Orphaned siblings write to PM for exchange of Rs 96.5K in old notes

 The sudden discovery of Rs 96,500 cash in demonetised notes left by their late mother has created a difficult situation for an orphan brother-sister duo here.

The brother (16) and sister (12), finding no avenues to change these notes, have now turned to the Prime Minister and sought his intervention as the deadline to exchange the banned Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 bank notes has passed.

The cash was found in a box earlier this month during a police survey at one of their locked paternal houses in Sarawada village.

"After the RBI denied the exchange of the old banknotes, the children, today, wrote to the PM requesting him to arrange for the exchange. The Rs 96,500 was their mother's life-long saving," Child Welfare Committee (CWC), Kota, Chairman Harish Gurubaxani said.

The brother wants to invest the amount as Fixed Deposit (FD) in his sister's name, he said.

"The hand-written letter has been dispatched to the Prime Minister's Office," Gurubaxani said.

He said their mother, Pooja Banjara, who was a daily wager, was allegedly murdered in 2013 and their father, Raju Banjara, died earlier.

"After their mother's death, the children were staying at a shelter home here. During a counselling session, they said they had houses in R K Puram area and Sarawada village," he said.

"Earlier this month, the police conducted a survey at the locked house in Sarawada on the directions of the CWC. The Rs 96,500, in denominations of old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, was found in a box along with the some jewellery," he said.

Gurubaxani said, "The CWC had written to the RBI on March 17 to facilitate exchange of the notes. However, the RBI, through an e-mail on March 22, informed the CWC about its inability to exchange the old currency notes."

He said the amount is in 149 notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000. The Union government on November 8 last year had demonetised high-value Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes, and asked citizens to get them exchanged at the RBI by March 31, 2017.