Odisha family carries 95-yr-old woman to bank on cycle rickshaw to collect pension

In a heart-wrenching incident, an ailing elderly woman was taken to a bank on a cycle rickshaw to collect her old-age pension in Odisha’s Gajapati district. The 95-year-old allegedly did not receive her pension money for the past three months.

With no money to rent a vehicle, the family members of Labang Gaya of Paralakhemundi ward-12 had to carry her on a trolley to the bank to collect the pension. However, they had to return from the bank empty-handed as the authorities asked them to approach the municipality office.

The incident has caused widespread outrage in the area. 

“I tried to approach an official for help and narrate my ordeal, instead he began shouting at me and scolded me to go to the municipality office. Even as my mother is too old to walk to the municipality office to collect her old-age pension every month, no official pays any heed,” said Dalimba Benia, daughter of the elderly woman.

When contacted, Paralakhemundi Municipality Executive Officer Banamali Satpathy said, “I’m unaware of the incident. I will talk to the people concerned and take necessary action in this regard after an appropriate inquiry.”

Earlier, a woman had to carry her disabled husband on a tricycle for 18km to collect his pension in Odisha’s Keonjhar district. In another incident, an elderly woman had to walk barefoot with the help of a broken chair to collect her pension in Odisha’s Nabarangpur district.

Despite repeated incidents of elderly people being forced to go through unwanted problems to avail their pensions, the alleged indifference of the state government to resolve the issue has triggered resentment.

(Reported By: Adarsh Das, OTV)