Bank in trouble: Beggars rush to withdraw cash

If you think only the rich should worry if the financial health of their bank turns poor and its operations are restricted, you may be wrong! Beggars too could be affected!

The long and serpentine queues before the branches of a private cooperative bank in the state capital and some other districts in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday had a few beggars, desperate to withdraw their savings.

The bank has been facing a run and these beggars, who had opened their accounts with the bank a few years back, looked worried as people, all customers of the bank, jostled with each other to gain entry into the bank to withdraw their deposits.

“I have a substantial amount in my savings account....I had opened the account around six years back and I have been making regular deposits in it,” said a beggar, who was homeless and begged near the famous Hanuman Temple here.

He was perturbed after being told that he could not withdraw more than Rs 1 lakh from his account as per the RBI directions, an indication that he had certainly more than that in his account though his shabby dress seemed to convey the opposite impression.

The bank had claimed that it has the accounts of many a beggar in the city. It had come out with attractive deposit schemes for the beggars and is said to have attracted many beggars as its customers.

After reports appeared that the RBI had imposed restrictions on the operations of the bank, the beggars too made a beeline before it to withdraw their money. The police had to be called in at some places after a large number of people assembled before the bank's branches here and threatened to break open the locks.

Sources said the RBI had directed the bank not to sell its movable and immovable properties for the next six months.