Hyderabad: A vegetable farmer in Telangana’s Mahabubnagar district, was shell shocked to find his hard-earned savings destroyed by rats. Notably, Redya Naik had saved Rs 2 lakh for his abdominal surgery but rats chewed all the cash that was safely hidden in an almirah. The farmer had managed to gather Rs 2 lakhs by selling vegetables and borrowing from others and had kept the cash at home in a bag.
According to The News Minute, rats entered the cabinet through a hole and chewed away most of the cash, which he had saved in denominations of Rs 500 notes.
“It was all my savings after selling vegetables. I had tucked the cash in a cotton bag. When I opened the bag, I was shocked to see that all the Rs 500 currency notes were damaged by the cats,” Naik was quoted as saying by Times Of India.
Overcome by shock and grief, the farmer even rushed to a local bank to exchange the cash, bitten into pieces, but the bank officials denied his request. Officials said that the money was not valid anymore and sked him to contact the Reserve Bank of India.
“Not just one bank, I had gone to several banks in Mahabubabad but the officials said they cannot exchange the destroyed currency notes for fresh ones,” he added.
However, Telangana, Minister of Tribal, Women’s and Child Welfare, Satyavathi Rathod, has now stepped forward to help him after his heartbreaking story went viral. She assured Naik that she will arrange his surgery in his preferred hospital and also render him financial assistance. The farmer thanked the minister for her gesture.