Bhubaneswar: Former Chief Minister and Leader of Opposition in Odisha, Naveen Patnaik, has written an urgent letter to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, expressing deep sorrow over a very inhuman incident that recently took place in Keonjhar district.
Naveen informed her about an unfortunate incident that took place on April 27 at the Maliposhi branch of Odisha Gramya Bank in Keonjhar district.
A tribal man, Jitu Munda, had to exhume his sister’s skeleton from the crematorium and bring it to the bank to prove her death. The bank authorities allegedly forced him to take such an extreme step to withdraw his due money.
Despite repeatedly approaching the bank, Jitu Munda did not receive any cooperation or correct information. Due to the insensitive attitude of the officials, an innocent person was forced to commit such an inhuman act. After the incident, the bank authorities tried to defend themselves by citing RBI rules. Naveen has termed this an “inhuman argument” and alleged that people are being harassed in the name of the law.
In a democracy, laws are meant to empower citizens, not to humiliate them. He has alleged that bank officials are exploiting people instead of serving them.