Bhubaneswar: A 92-year-old man from Bishnupur panchayat of Odisha’s Bhadrak district was forced to visit the bank to update KYC in order to get his pension amount.
Manjulata Jena, the elderly man’s lone daughter, had visited the bank to enquire when her father didn’t get his pension for two successive months. The bank staff then apparently told her to bring her father to the branch.
Her repeated requests that her father was not in a condition to visit the branch fell on deaf ears, according to reports. The bank staff allegedly told the woman that the amount cannot be disbursed without the KYC updation which required the elderly man’s physical presence.
With no option left, Manjulata had to get her father to the bank’s Nalanga branch located around 5 km away from his home. He was brought on a trolley with the help of her daughter and son-in-law.
“Earlier, the government was giving the pension amount directly but now, it is being sent to bank accounts. Bank staff told me that we can’t get the pension money without KYC updation. Though we visited the bank with all the necessary documents, they forced us to bring my father to the bank,” Manjulata Jena said.
Several beneficiaries of the old-age pension scheme are deprived of what they deserve due to the apathy and negligence of banks, a local alleged. “The government should look into the matter so that these people in their old age won’t suffer, at least by banks,” he said.
The said bank staff Sankarshan Mishra, however, responded to the allegations. “I had told them that I will fill up the KYC form but they had to give thumb impression in presence of the officer. Had they given an application to the bank manager, I would have visited their home after getting instructions from the BM,” Mishra said.
The Branch Manager was unavailable for comment on the allegations levelled against them.
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