In a heart-wrenching display of dedication, a tribal woman in Chhattisgarh's Surguja district walked nearly 3 kilometers with her 90-year-old mother-in-law strapped to her back to complete pending Know Your Customer (KYC) formalities and collect the elderly woman's monthly pension, which had been withheld for four months.
Incident Details
The incident occurred on Friday in the Mainpat development block. A video of the woman making the arduous journey went viral on social media the following day, drawing attention to the struggles faced by rural beneficiaries.
The woman, identified as Sukhmaniya, believed to be in her late 50s, was seen carrying her frail mother-in-law along a road to the Central Bank of India branch in Mainpat town. Speaking in the video, Sukhmaniya explained that a Bank Mitra had earlier been delivering the Rs 500 monthly pension to their home, but payments stopped three to four months ago because KYC formalities were incomplete.
Journey and Resolution
A resident of Jangalpara village in the Kunia area, she undertook the nearly 3-kilometer journey on foot to ensure the paperwork was completed. Mainpat Janpad Panchayat CEO Khushboo Shastri said the pension had last been delivered at the woman's home in January. "The service was discontinued over the last four months due to pending KYC formalities," Shastri said on Sunday.
She added that on May 22, Sukhmaniya arrived at the bank carrying her mother-in-law without informing local officials. After the KYC process was completed, the bank immediately released the pending Rs 2,000 pension amount for four months.
Bank's Responsibility
According to officials, the Central Bank of India branch in Mainpat has seven Bank Mitras assigned to deliver pensions at the doorstep of beneficiaries unable to travel to the bank. "From next month, the pension will once again be delivered at their home," Shastri assured.
