A visually challenged man and his wife with a physical disability in Anthiyur taluk of Erode district learned the hard way that ₹24,000 of their life savings has no value as all the notes had been demonetised. The couple have no children and made a living by selling incense sticks and camphor.

Somu, 58, and his wife Palaniyammal, 49, live at Pothiya Moopanur. A few years ago, he gave the sum — saved over 10 years — to his mother Rasamma, 80, who kept it in a container at their home.

When the going got tough because of the COVID-19 lockdown, they opened the container on July 10 and found nine notes with a face value of ₹1,000 and 30 notes with a face value of ₹500. But they were shocked to learn that the money was worthless. They took it to a nationalised bank where officials said the currency notes were demonetised on November 8, 2016.

Mr. Somu told The Hindu that he and his family were unaware of demonetisation as no villager had told them about it. “Except for the monthly old-age pension, we have no income, and hence we need assistance for survival,” he said. He has to take care of his mother, too. G. Karthikeyan, a villager, said the couple were in desperate need of help.

Collector C. Kathiravan said he had asked the couple to come to the Collectorate on Monday. He would hand over to them ₹25,000 from his personal savings as the currency notes could not be exchanged now.