70-year-old forced to walk barefoot in scorching heat for kilometres to collect pension in Odisha

JHARIGAON: In a shocking incident from Odisha, a 70-year-old woman was seen walking barefoot for several kilometres only to collect her pension from a bank.

According to a video which has gone viral on social media, the frail woman can be seen walking barefoot in scorching heat with the support of a broken chair. The incident happened in the Jharigaon block of Nabrangpur district of Odisha on April 17.

The elderly woman, Surya Harijan, is from a poverty-ridden family. Her older son is working as a migrant labourer in a different state. She lives with her younger son's family and he makes his living grazing other people's cattle. The family has no land to plough and lives in a hut.

#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

The lady went to the bank to get the pension, but she was told that her thumb is not matching the records, and she was forced to return home.

Reacting to the incident, the State Bank of India (SBI) manager has claimed that she is facing trouble in withdrawing money because of her "broken fingers" and the bank is working to resolve the problem.

"Her fingers are broken, so she is facing trouble withdrawing money. She has been given Rs 3,000 manually from the bank. We will resolve the problem soon," the SBI manager of the Jharigaon branch said.

The Sarpanch of her village also said that they have discussed listing such helpless people in the village and providing pension money to them.