Orphans 'inherit' Rs 96,500 in old notes

A brother-sister duo in Kota, who live in a child care home, were in for a surprise when the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) recovered Rs 96,500 from their ancestral home. However, the money recovered was in the form of demonetised notes and the orphaned children have now sought help from the Prime Minister’s Office to get the old currency exchanged as the RBI has already expressed its helplessness.

The siblings, Suraj and sister Saloni, who are minors, have been living in the child shelter since 2013. The CWC also found some gold and silver jewellery, along with the cash, stuffed in a pillow at the children’s ancestral home in Saharwada village, about 60 km from Kota.

The children have now written an open letter, posted online on March 23, to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s office, seeking help. The hard copy of the letter was sent by post to PMO by CWC. The letter stated: “Please listen to our Mann ki Baat, Modiji. We don’t have any relative, our father left us when we were young and our mother was murdered. We want to deposit the money back with the government. please help us at the earliest.”

Harish Gurbaxani, chairperson, CWC, Kota, told DH over phone, “Earlier this year, CWC, with the help of police, traced that the duo had an ancestral house. There we found some cash and jewellery. We were late to approach the RBI.” CWC is also in touch with the office of Union Minister of State for Finance Arjun Ram Meghwal.

“The minister has assured that his office will look into the matter and do the needful.” Suraj and Saloni were thirteen- and nine-years old, respectively, when their widowed mother was murdered in 2013 at Saharwada village. Since then, the two have been living in a shelter home run by an NGO.