Chhattisgarh woman walks 3 km carrying 90-year-old mother-in-law to bank for pension

Ambikapur: A tribal woman walked nearly 3 km carrying her 90-year-old mother-in-law on her back to a bank to collect the latter’s Rs 500 monthly pension, pending for four months due to incomplete KYC (Know Your Customer) formalities, in Chhattisgarh’s Surguja district.

The incident took place in the Mainpat development block on Friday, and a video of the woman went viral on social media a day later.

In the video, the woman, identified as Sukhmaniya, who is in her late 50s, is seen walking along a road with her elderly mother-in-law on her back.

She told the person recording the video that earlier, a ‘Bank Mitra’ used to deliver the monthly pension of Rs 500 at her home, but she had not received the pension for the last three to four months as the KYC process had not been completed.

Sukhmaniya, a resident of Jangalpara village in the Kunia area, travelled around 3 km to reach the Central Bank of India branch in Mainpat town on foot.

Mainpat Janpad Panchayat Chief Executive Officer Khushboo Shastri said on Sunday that a Bank Mitra had earlier been visiting the woman’s house every month to deliver the pension amount.

“In January, the pension was delivered at her home for the last time. The service was stopped over the past four months due to pending KYC formalities,” she said.

On May 22, Sukhmaniya reached the bank branch carrying her mother-in-law on her back without informing anyone. After the KYC formalities were completed at the branch, the bank immediately released the pending pension amount of Rs 2,000 for four months, she said.

The official said the Central Bank of India branch in Mainpat has seven Bank Mitras who deliver pension money at the doorstep of beneficiaries who are unable to visit the bank.

“From next month onwards, Sukhmaniya’s mother-in-law will again receive the pension amount at her home,” she added.