70-Year Old Odisha Woman's Walks Miles For Pension, FM Sitharaman Reacts

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New Delhi: A disturbing occurrence occurred in Odisha when a 70-year-old woman was seen travelling barefoot for several km before stopping at a bank to pick up her pension. The frail woman can be seen using a broken chair as support while walking barefoot in the intense heat in a video that has gone popular on social media.

What Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Says? 

On April 17 (Monday), the incident took place in the Jharigaon block of the Nabrangpur district of Odisha. Once the video went viral, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman made a reply and tweeted, "Can see the manager of the @TheOfficialSBI responding but yet wish @DFS_India and @TheOfficialSBI take cognisance of this and act humanely. Are they no bank Mitra? @FinMinIndia

Can see the manager of the @TheOfficialSBI responding but yet wish @DFS_India and @TheOfficialSBI take cognisance of this and act humanely. Are they no bank Mitra? @FinMinIndia https://t.co/a9MdVizHim — Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) April 20, 2023

What SBI Responds To FM Nirmala Sitharaman?

Thereafter, in response to FM Sitharaman's tweet, SBI representatives stated that starting in the following month, the pension will be delivered to her door.

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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.

— State Bank of India (@TheOfficialSBI) April 20, 2023

How Does SBI React?

The State Bank of India (SBI) manager responded to the incident by claiming that she is having difficulty withdrawing cash due to her damaged fingers and that the bank is striving to find a solution.

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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. — State Bank of India (@TheOfficialSBI) April 20, 2023

What Is The Matter?

Her injured fingers make it difficult for her to withdraw cash. She received 3,000 rupees personally from the bank. The SBI manager of the Jharigaon branch earlier promised that the issue will be resolved quickly. 

The village's Sarpanch added that they had talked about identifying such needy residents and giving them pensions.

#WATCH | A senior citizen, Surya Harijan walks many kilometers barefoot with the support of a broken chair to reach a bank to collect her pension in Odisha's Jharigaon

SBI manager Jharigaon branch says, "Her fingers are broken, so she is facing trouble withdrawing money. We'll… pic.twitter.com/Hf9exSd0F0 — ANI (@ANI) April 20, 2023