Chhattisgarh woman walks 3 km with elderly mother-in-law on back to collect ₹2,000 pension

Ambikapur: A tribal woman in Chhattisgarh’s Surguja district walked nearly 3 km carrying her 90-year-old mother-in-law on her back to a bank branch after the elderly woman’s monthly pension was halted over pending KYC formalities.

The incident, which took place in the Mainpat development block on May 22, came to light after a video of the woman went viral on social media. In the clip, the woman, identified as Sukhmaniya, is seen walking along a road with the elderly woman strapped to her back.

Sukhmaniya, a resident of Jangalpara village in the Kunia area, reportedly made the journey on foot to the Central Bank of India branch in Mainpat town to complete the Know Your Customer (KYC) process required for pension disbursal.

Speaking in the video, she said a ‘Bank Mitra’ had earlier been delivering the ₹500 monthly pension directly to their home. However, the payments had stopped for the past three to four months as the KYC process remained incomplete.

Mainpat Janpad Panchayat Chief Executive Officer Khushboo Shastri said the pension was last delivered at the woman’s home in January.

“The service was stopped over the past four months due to pending KYC formalities,” she said.

According to the official, Sukhmaniya reached the bank carrying her mother-in-law without informing local authorities or officials. Once the KYC process was completed, the bank released the pending pension amount of ₹2,000 covering four months.

Shastri added that the Central Bank of India branch in Mainpat has seven Bank Mitras who deliver pension money to beneficiaries unable to visit the bank.

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