In Surguja, Chhattisgarh, a daughter-in-law carried her 90-year-old mother-in-law on her shoulders for 9 km to the bank for a pension of ₹ 500. The bank had made personal presence of the beneficiary mandatory for KYC. When the video went viral, the administration intervened and provided pension.
Surguja (Chhattisgarh): A 50-year-old daughter-in-law carried her 90-year-old mother-in-law on her shoulders and walked 9 kilometers to get the meager pension she gets from the government. This heart-wrenching incident took place in Mainpat area of Surguja district of Chhattisgarh. This Dalit woman named Sukumari Bai had to do all this for her elderly mother-in-law, because the bank had asked her to come in person for pension.
Sukumari carried her mother-in-law on her shoulder and passed through the rough and rocky path of the forest. The video of this incident is becoming increasingly viral on social media.
Actually, the elderly in the state get a pension of Rs 500 every month. But this pension was stalled due to non-updation of KYC for the last four months. This time the bank had clearly said that the pensioner will have to come to the bank himself to complete the KYC and put the thumb impression. This order was no less than a big problem for this poor family living in the forest. They reached the bank on foot through a road where no vehicles ply.
As soon as the video of the daughter-in-law carrying her mother-in-law on her shoulder surfaced on social media, people got angry. Many people called it a major negligence of the system. According to the rules, pension should be given to elderly and sick people at home only. After the matter heated up, the district administration immediately intervened. The officials immediately handed over the pending pension of the elderly woman to her. At the same time, bank officials clarified that the facility of delivering pension at home through ‘Bank Mitra’ was stopped due to KYC problem.