Why A 77-Year-Old Woman Had To Crawl On Road To Claim Her Pension

In a distressing event, a 77-year-old woman crawled for 2km to enquire about her pension which was stopped abruptly. The woman, Girijamma, is childless and lives in Kunibelekere village in Harihar taluk in Davanagere district of Karnataka. She is heavily dependent on the pension for her livelihood.

The incident happened a week ago but its video went viral on social media and caused a public outcry. As per reports, Girijamma went to the Kunibelekere village post office to ask the employees about the status of her pension which was dispensed through the post office. As mentioned earlier, her pension was stopped abruptly. 

Why did the woman take such a step?

She interacted with the media and said, "I was supposed to receive a Rs 10,000 pension every month, but it never came to me for the last two months. Left with no money for a bus or autorickshaw ride, I decided to
crawl for two kilometres." She alleged that she used to receive a pension from the post office every month but suddenly it has stopped without any intimation since November 2023.

The drastic step of crawling on roads has caused blisters on her feet but it is still not sure whether the officials addressed her queries or not.  

Another similar incident 

A similar incident was reported in Odisha eight months ago. A 70-year-old woman named Surya Harijan had to walk several kilometres barefooted under the scorching sun with a broken chair as a walking aid. She took this painful step to claim her pension in the Nabarangpur district of Odisha. 

As per reports, earlier, the government used to give pensions in cash but to avoid corruption it resorted to transferring the amount to the bank accounts directly. At that time, the officials ensured that steps would be taken so that the old woman would not have to undergo the ordeal again.