Puri: An 85-year-old woman reportedly fell consciousness while walking to a bank branch to withdraw her old-age pension, which she had not received for the past three months.
According to sources, the incident took place on Wednesday when the frail woman, Sukanti Dei, was on her way to Odisha Gramya Bank at Sarangajodi in Puri’s Satyabadi block. She collapsed during the 2-km walk possibly due to her deteriorating health or exhaustion amid the prevailing sultry weather conditions. Locals quickly came to her aid and rushed her to the Community Health Centre (CHC) at Satyabadi for treatment. “When I reached home, an acquaintance arrived at home with her in an auto,” said her son.
The elderly woman was dependent on the money to purchase her BP medicines. “We have urged the panchayat and district administration to ensure that Sukanti receives the money at home, but no assistance has been provided to her yet,” social worker Sushil Kumar Sahu told a local news channel.
Meanwhile, Block development officer (BDO) Satyabadi Debasish Nayak attributed the delay to an IFSC correction issue. He assured that the technical glitch would be resolved promptly, allowing the elderly woman to receive her pending pension amount soon.
The incident, coming days after the Keonjhar incident where a tribal man was forced to exhume his deceased sister’s skeletal remains and present them at a bank branch to withdraw money from her account, has raised questions over administrative and banking hurdles faced by people in rural and remote belts of Odisha.
