Devoid of a tricycle, 68-yr-old Odisha woman crawls for 30km to withdraw money

Bhubaneswar: A 68-year-old divyang woman in Odisha’s Sundergarh district on Thursday reportedly crawled for 30kms to a bank to withdraw her pension money.

According to reports, the elderly woman identified as Tersa Barla, unable to walk due to her leprosy-infected legs, had to walk on all fours on the damaged and stone-filled road from her village to the nearest bank for 30 km. The heart-wrenching incident has been reported from Odisha’s Kutra in the tribal-dominated Sundargarh district.

According to sources, the woman had taken medicines from a traditional healer in the village. To pay him, the woman had gone to a ‘Jana seva kendra’ to withdraw her pension money. However, the officials at the seva Kendra turned her away citing her Aadhaar card was not linked to her bank account.

With no other option left, the elderly woman had to crawl all the way to the bank to get her Aadhaar card linked to her bank account. Halfway to the bank, a kind-hearted social activist spotted her and offered help.

Upon enquiry, it was learnt that her Aadhaar card was linked with her bank account and she was fooled by the officials of the Jana Seva Kendra. The social activist helped her withdraw Rs 1,000 from her account and arranged her transport back to her village.

Tersa has been ‘divyang’ by birth but has to do everything all by herself after the death of her parents. Five kilograms of rice under the public distribution scheme and monthly elderly allowance is the only hope for Tersa. Even as the government has launched scores of schemes to help the ‘divyan,, all such programmes have failed to reach her. A tricycle would help her live a dignified life in the area, Tersa said.