Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday responded to a viral video of a 70-year-old woman who was seen walking barefoot for several kilometres in scorching heat to collect her pension from a bank in Odisha's Jharigaon.
Read here: Nitish to call on Patnaik, Akhilesh in May in bid for oppn unity
“Can see th e manager of the @TheOfficialSBI responding but yet wish @DFS_India and @TheOfficialSBI take cognisance of this and act humanely. Are they no bank Mitra?” Sitharaman tweeted.
As soon as the minister reacted to the video, the bank immediately took cognisance of the incident. The State Bank of India, a series of tweets, replied, "Madam, we are equally pained to see this video. Smt Surya Harijan in the video used to withdraw her old age pension from the CSP point situated in her village every month. Due to old age, her finger prints were not matching at the CSP point".
{{/usCountry}}As soon as the minister reacted to the video, the bank immediately took cognisance of the incident. The State Bank of India, a series of tweets, replied, "Madam, we are equally pained to see this video. Smt Surya Harijan in the video used to withdraw her old age pension from the CSP point situated in her village every month. Due to old age, her finger prints were not matching at the CSP point".
{{/usCountry}}"She visited our Jharigaon Branch with her relative. Our Branch Manager immediately paid the amount by manually debiting her account. Our Branch Manger has also communicated that her pension will be delivered to her doorstop from next month. We have also decided to handover a wheelchair to Smt Surya Harijan", the bank added.
Ever since the video was shared by news agency ANI, it has gone viral on social media. In the video, the frail woman, Surya Harijan, can be seen walking barefoot during the day with the support of a broken chair. The video was reportedly taken from Jharigaon block of Nabrangpur district of Odisha on April 17.
ANI reported that Harijan was denied the pension as her thumb was not matching with the records and was forced to return home.
Read here: Two minors allegedly gangraped in Odisha district; accused remain at large
"Her fingers are broken, so she is facing trouble withdrawing money. She has been given ₹3,000 manually from the bank. We will resolve the problem soon," the SBI manager of the Jharigaon branch had said earlier.
Harijan belongs to a very poor family and lives with her younger son's family. Her elder son works s a migrant labourer in a different state, while her younger son grazes other people's cattle. The family has no land to plough and lives in a hut.
(With inputs from ANI)