Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Press Trust of India file photo
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has sanctioned Rs 50,000 for the orphan siblings from Kota who have found Rs 96,500 in old currency at their village home after the deadline to exchange such notes was over.
Money has been sanctioned to the siblings from the Prime Minister’s Discretionary Fund (PMDF). Interestingly the duo, 17-year-old Sooraj Banjara and his nine-year-old sister Saloni have been insured under the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) and Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Beema Yojana (PMJJBY). Prime Minister has replied to children saying, "The sanctioned money may not be sufficient for both of you but I am sure that such assistance will certainly reduce your problems to some extent". The sanctioned money has also been transferred to the siblings’ bank account in Kota. Chairman of Child Welfare Committee, Kota, Harish Gurubakshani confirmed that the children received the PM’s letter dated June 6.
An orphan siblings living in a Kota child care home since 2013 had sought help from the Prime Minister's Office to get the old currency exchanged. On their visit to home in Sarawada village, about 60 km from Kota they found gold and silver jewellery along with Rs 96,500 in old currency. After Reserve Bank of India expressed helplessness on March 22, they wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s office, seeking help. In the letter, they wrote: “Please listen to our Mann Ki Baat, Modiji. We don’t have any relative, our father left us when we were young and our mother was murdered. We want to deposit the money back to the government. please help us at the earliest.”
The minors Suraj and sister Saloni were thirteen and nine-years-old, respectively, when their widowed mother was murdered in 2013 at Saharwada village in Kota district. Since then, the two have been living in a shelter home run by an NGO. But their luck changed when new CWCs were formed across the state in December 2016. During a review, the new committee found that the orphans had an ancestral house.