KURNOOL : M Sunkamma (68) had gone to the bank, like many others, to the Dhone branch of Andhra Bank on December 16. She had to withdraw her monthly pension of `1,000, given by the State government for the aged. It was her sixth visit to the bank since demonetisation came into effect on November 8.
A resident of Malyala village, Sunkamma had three sons. She had been living with her second son M Nadipi Muneppa. But, he hadn’t been keeping well and was dependent on his mother.
“My mother opened an SB account at Andhra Bank in 2012. There were no transactions as she was getting her pension at the village itself. In the meantime, the government has made it mandatory that everyone has to hold an account to deposit pension in the account,” he said.
Muneppa accompanied his mother to the bank on Dec 10 but returned empty-handed as there was no cash. “On Dec 15, we tried to withdraw the pension. But we were informed that the account has been blocked and for the revival of the account, they asked us to pay `150,” he recalled.
On Dec 16, Sunkamma went to the bank. She gave her consent to the bank authorities to deduct `150 towards fine and give her the remaining `850 of the `1,000 of her pension. But to her utter shock, the bank authorities paid her only `300. Even as the bank staff were explaining to her that she got that much after deduction of some taxes towards account maintenance, she collapsed and died later, he said. Express could not independently verify the account of his mother’s death.