Nandapur: Direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme might be providing relief to those who are digitally literate and able to visit banks/ ATMs to withdraw money, but it has turned out to be a burden on Shukra Pangi, 79, a differently-abled elderly man of Khadakpur village under Nandapur block in Koraput district who has to spend Rs 1,000 on transport to withdraw the same amount as monthly pension.
Reports said Shukra, who lives alone in a dilapidated mud house with no close family to support him, has made an emotional appeal to the administration to provide his monthly pension in cash rather than transferring it to his bank account.
Meanwhile, a few of his relatives have placed a bed on the verandah where he stays all the time, as he is unable to move inside. Often, the relatives come, feed him and help him return to the bed, which has become his permanent resting place.
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Shukra receives Rs 1,000 under the Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme through the State Bank of India in Balda. Since he is unable to register his fingerprints due to old age and is illiterate, he is unable to use an ATM, for which the bank has not given him a debit card.
Without biometric access or assistance, he is forced to hire an auto-rickshaw to travel from Khadakpur to the Balda branch of the bank, which costs him the entire pension amount. As a result, he can only afford to make the journey once every six months with the help of his relatives, essentially rendering the pension ineffective for his regular needs, Shukra said.
He has appealed to the government to transfer his name to a state-run Madhu Babu Pension Yojana (MBPY) scheme, where the money can be delivered to his home via the panchayat-level distribution. Local officials from the block’s social security department said they will forward his request through the district officer concerned to the state department, seeking permission to convert his pension into a hand-delivery system.
Shukra, who is turning 80 soon, says the current arrangement is not just inconvenient but a burden.
PNN
