Lucknow (DHNS) : If you think only the rich should worry if the financial health of their bank turns poor and its operations are restricted, you may be wrong! Beggars too could be affected!
The long and serpentine queues before the branches of a private cooperative bank in the state capital and some other districts in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday had a few beggars, desperate to withdraw their savings.
The bank has been facing a run and these beggars, who had opened their accounts with the bank a few years back, looked worried as people, all customers of the bank, jostled with each other to gain entry into the bank to withdraw their deposits.
“I have a substantial amount in my savings account….I had opened the account around six years back and I have been making regular deposits in it,” said a beggar, who was homeless and begged near the famous Hanuman Temple here.
He was perturbed after being told that he could not withdraw more than Rs 1 lakh from his account as per the RBI directions, an indication that he had certainly more than that in his account though his shabby dress seemed to convey the opposite impression.
The bank had claimed that it has the accounts of many a beggar in the city. It had come out with attractive deposit schemes for the beggars and is said to have attracted many beggars as its customers.
After reports appeared that the RBI had imposed restrictions on the operations of the bank, the beggars too made a beeline before it to withdraw their money. The police had to be called in at some places after a large number of people assembled before the bank’s branches here and threatened to break open the locks.
Sources said the RBI had directed the bank not to sell its movable and immovable properties for the next six months.
For Beggars, by Beggars: Here’s a Six-month-old Unique Bank
Gaya-Bihar : When Raj Kumar Majhi, a beggar in Gaya’s Manglagauri temple, incurred a medical bill of Rs 8,000 for his sister’s treatment, help poured in from an unusual quarter — a bank he works for!
Majhi got the necessary amount as loan from the bank run by forty beggars, all of whom operate at the gates of the Manglagauri temple in Gaya. The bank was established six months earlier with an aim to help out whenever any of the members ran into financial constraints. Manjhi, a literate person who is the manager of the bank, became the first account holder to take a loan from it.
Beggars at the Manglagauri temple in Gaya, Bihar
All the members of the bank’s management team are beggars – who deposit Rs 20 every Tuesday, even when the income is low owing to the slack in devotees visiting the temple. “I got the loan without completing any paper work,” said Manjhi, who will not be required to pay any interest on the loan for a month. After that, he will have to pay interest at the rate of 2-3%. “The bank remains open 24X7, even on the Sundays and other holidays. We have the privilege of drawing or depositing the money as all ‘officials’ are available round-the-clock. It is better and convenient than the ATMs of government banks.”
Manjhi’s wife Malti, who is the secretary of the bank, said, “The idea to open the bank came to our mind last year after the visit of State Society for Ultra Poor and Social Welfare officers, who encouraged us to save our earnings.” The beggars of Askhaybatt, Vishnupad and other temples of the town would be linked with the bank soon, she added.
(Courtesy : Hindustan Times)