Viral Video: 70-Year-Old Woman Walks Barefoot To Bank To Collect Pension

The video of an elderly woman walking barefoot to get her pension from the bank is going viral on the internet. The video grabbed the attention of the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman who asked the bank to give clarification on why a senior citizen is being treated like that.

In the now viral video, an old woman can be seen walking barefoot with the support of a broken plastic chair to reach the State Bank of India to collect her pension. The woman, who was identified as 70-year-old Surya Harijan from Jharigaon, Odisha, has reportedly been going back and forth to the SBI near her in order to collect her pension but had been facing trouble because her thumb impressions have worn out due to her age and not matching the bank record anymore.

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Old Woman Walks Barefoot For Pension

The woman's eldest son lives in another state working as a migrant labourer while she lives with the youngest in Jharigaon who grazes cattles of others. The family doesn't own any land and lives in a hut while the matriarch has to travel barefoot in scorching heat to get her pension.

The inhumane video caught the attention of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman who asked SBI manager to clear their take on the issue of why they are not helping a senior citizen and where are Bank Mitra who are supposed to help senior citizens with bank operations. She acknowledged the clarification of the bank about the issue but asked why they are not acting humanely and an old woman has to suffer.

When the video went viral, SBI cleared the air around the issue and the steps it took to deal with it. The bank cleared that the woman's thumb impressions were not matching with bank records because of her old age and that they helped her withdraw Rs 3000 manually while they tried to find a permanent solution to the problem. The bank also clarified that they had made provisions to deliver bank services to the woman's doorsteps and had even donated a wheelchair to her. The bank reportedly stated that they have asked Bank Mitra or Common Service Providers in various regions to identify issues faced by people in accessing banking facilities and to take action upon them.