Hundreds gather outside a bank to activate accounts credited with Gruha Lakshmi fund in Madikeri

MADIKERI: Hundreds of women rushed to a private bank in Madikeri on Monday morning. The queue outside the bank touched nearly a kilometre long even as the women shared that they were waiting to collect the funds transferred under the Gruha Lakshmi scheme. 

“We have come from Shanivarasanthe and have been waiting in line from 8 a.m.,” shared a group of women. They explained that they had received a message from the bank alerting them about the inactive bank account opened at the branch. “We opened a bank account in the bank under the Sri Kshetra Dharmasthala Rural Development Project in 2021. However, the bank account has been inactive for several months now. If we do not withdraw the Gruha Lakshmi amount now, it might be sent back,” they added. 

Further, several other women beneficiaries have linked their Aadhar cards to private bank accounts, which were opened to receive benefits under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana during COVID-19 times.

However, as they stopped receiving the benefits during the pandemic situation, the unused accounts became inactive. “Several beneficiaries have forgotten about the accounts opened in the bank under the Jan Dhan project. Nearly 30,000 accounts were opened in our bank during the Jan Dhan scheme.

However, several accounts were inactive,” confirmed an employee of the bank. Nevertheless, as the Aadhar cards have been linked to these accounts, the Gruha Lakshmi and Anna Bhagya schemes funds have been transferred to them and hundreds gathered in front of the bank on Monday to collect the funds. “If the accounts are active, we will hand over the funds. If they are inactive, the beneficiaries have to submit an application for reactivation and only then they can utilize the funds,” he added.

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