Payday pain continues as two senior citizens die in queues

Two elderly persons from the districts who were standing in queue to withdraw their pension from the bank died after suffering cardiac arrests.

The victims have been identified as Robin Mukherjee (73) and Biswadeb Naskar (80). Mukherjee was a resident of Machhlandapur in North 24 Parganas while Naskar was from Baidyabati in Hooghly.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee while reacting to the incident in Nabanna said: “The tea and jute industry are closed. People are not getting money despite standing in queues for more than 6 hours. There are no Rs 500 notes. They have sent Rs 500 notes to the states where there is BJP government. Today (Friday) too, two aged people died in Bengal. The Centre is diverting the issue after failing to give justice to the people and doing whatever they like forcefully.”

“A total of 86 persons have died so far in the country due to demonetisation of notes. Only Modi will eat and other will not get their food will not stay in the country,” she said. On the other hand, Speaker made obituary reference in West Bengal Assembly on Friday.

The first incident took place at a Branch office of a nationalised bank in Machhlandapur where Mukherjee had been standing in the queue. When his turn came, he withdrew around Rs 2,800. Few minutes later, the victim fell ill. Seeing that the elderly person was complaining about unusual symptoms, the local people rushed him to Habra hospital where he was declared brought dead.

Some of the local people and the victim’s relatives have alleged that Mukherjee died after suffering stroke as he had to stand in the queue for a long time. The doctors are yet to confirm the exact cause of his death. It was learnt that the victim had suffered from a heart attack earlier. He had undergone a bypass surgery.

The incident spread tension at Tetulia village of Machhlandapur after the news of his death reached there. Some local residents protested against the decision of the Centre to demonetise high value currency notes without taking adequate arrangements to handle the crisis. Many of the protestors demanded a roll back so that no more persons are killed in this manner. Many elderly citizens across the state had to face inconveniences while withdrawing their pension from their respective banks due to long queue. 

Another victim, Biswadeb Naskar, was a retired school teacher who fell ill while standing in a bank queue to get money. People soon rushed him to a nearby hospital where the victim died. It is suspected that the victim might have died after suffering a cardiac arrest. The doctors are yet to ascertain the exact reason behind the death of the victim.

Many of the pensioners have alleged that they did not get their pension despite of the assurances from the Central government and the Reserve Bank of India.