Rats chew up Telangana farmer’s health savings of Rs 2 lakh, Minister assures assistance

Mangalore Today News Network

Telangana, Jul 19, 2021: Bhukya Redya Naik, a tribal farmer from Telangana’s Mahabubabad district, had collected Rs 2 lakh with great difficulty, borrowing from acquaintances and saving from his hard-earned income from selling vegetables. He had been unwell for a while and needed the money for abdominal surgery. While he believed the money was safe in his cupboard, to his great distress, he recently discovered that rats had entered the cabinet through a hole and chewed away most of the cash, which he had saved in denominations of Rs 500 notes. After reports of his plight surfaced, Telangana Minister for Tribal, Women and Child Welfare Satyavathi Rathod has assured to help the vegetable farmer and vendor with his medical treatment expenses. 

 

Minister Satyavathi Rathod assured on Sunday, July 18 that she would see that the farmer gets his money, and receives proper medical care. Earlier on Saturday, it was reported that Bhukya Redya Naik, a tribal farmer from Indiranagar hamlet of Vennur in Mahabubabad district had lost Rs 2 lakh cash after the notes were chewed by rats. According to reports, Redya Naik was saving money by selling vegetables to undergo surgery for his abdomen related ailment, as doctors suggested that it would cost Rs 4 lakh. He had managed to gather Rs 2 lakhs by selling vegetables and borrowing from others and had kept the cash at home in a bag.

To his dismay, when he opened the bag to take the money for a hospital visit, he was shocked to find all the notes of Rs 500 denomination were nibbled by rats. He went to several local banks but was told that the notes could not be exchanged as they were completely ruined. On seeing the reports about his ordeal, Minister Satyavathi offered assistance from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund (CMRF) to help Redya Naik access medical care.

On the Minister’s instructions, the local tahsildar conducted an inquiry about the incident. According to the tahsildar, the Minister directed revenue officers to assure the farmer that he would receive all the support required for his medical treatment through the CMRF. Minister Sathyavati has also directly spoken with the farmer and assured him that she will personally address his concern and take care of his treatment. To recover the notes, however, the tahsildar said that the serial numbers will be needed. “For now, we are looking into the extent of damage and condition of the notes and will furnish the information to the District Collector. If the serial numbers are visible, measures will be taken to recover the amount,” he told reporters.  Earlier in February, a resident of Vijayawada who had stored Rs 5 lakh in cash at his home in a plastic bag, lost the money to a termite infestation. At the time, Bank of Baroda officials in Vijayawada approached him to help compensate for the loss. Police officers had offered to send a panchnama of the remaining amount to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

Courtesy:The News Minute