No doorstep pension: Aged crowd Chengalpattu banks

Since the elderly are more vulnerable to coronavirus, the district administration had advised them to stay indoors and not to come out at any cost. They requested them not to come to the banks for withdrawing the money and never use the ATM. They promised that the pension will be distributed to them at their doorstep.

On Wednesday, hundreds of senior citizens gathered outside the banks in various places in Chengalpattu district, demanding that they be paid their old-age pension. They claimed that the district administration promised to issue the money at home but failed to do so. The elders started reaching the banks as they found it difficult to manage without cash.

“The police are also not allowing us to come out and we could not even use the ATM,” said a senior citizen.

Some of them pointed out that while the old-age pension was distributed at doorsteps in Kancheepuram, not a single person received it in Chengalpattu.

The health activists, meanwhile, got into the act and requested the elderly who had gathered to maintain social distance and cover their face with a mask or cloth.