Anticipating INDIA bloc victory, women rush to open India Post accounts to get Rs 8,500 per month
Bengaluru (PTI): An otherwise silent General Post Office in Bengaluru is witnessing an unprecedented rush of women hurrying to open India Post Payment Bank accounts, anticipating a monthly deposit of Rs 8,500 into their accounts if the INDIA bloc comes to power at the Centre.
The elections are still in the process but women, largely from the minority communities sporting burqas, stood in long queues to open the account.
Some of them believed that opening the IPPB account would ensure that they get Rs 8,500 per month.
A woman said she stood in queue early in the morning itself. Another said everyone in her neighbourhood was saying that money would start coming from the day the account is opened, so she too came to open an account.
Most of the women PTI spoke to were from Shivajinagar, Chamarajpet and surrounding places in the city.
Talking to reporters, Chief Post Master of GPO Bengaluru H M Manjesh said people have been coming to the office to open IPPB accounts in the belief that the Department of Post would credit Rs 2,000 or Rs 8,500 into their accounts.
“Actually it is a rumour. Somebody has spread this rumour. The department will not pay any amount to them. However, this account can be used for any type of online transaction or even Direct Benefit (Transfer) scheme,” Manjesh clarified.
He said that the department has already informed the customers about this. "We have displayed some posters also. In spite of that, customers are requesting that we open IPPB accounts for them."
There was such a rush that more counters were opened outside the GPO building, under the open sky, he added.
“Earlier we used to open 50 to 60 accounts in a counter. Now we have made separate arrangements. We have brought our postmen for this purpose and regularly we are opening around 500 to 600 accounts, sometimes even 1,000 accounts in a day,” Manjesh said.
According to sources in the department, this rush has been witnessed for the past three days. It is learnt that some Congress MLAs spread the rumours, believing which the women made a beeline for the GPO.
The MLAs said that the women will start getting money after June 4 "when the INDIA bloc will come to power".
The Congress has made a promise to launch the Mahalakshmi scheme under which Rs 8,500 will be directly credited into the account of women heads of families belonging to Below Poverty Line (BPL) category.
It is similar to the Gruha Lakshmi guarantee scheme started by the Karnataka government in which Rs 2,000 is paid to women heads of BPL families.
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Karnataka: Woman delivers baby on train after emergency halt in Dakshina Kannada
Mangaluru (Karnataka) (PTI): A woman travelling from Mangaluru to Mysuru delivered a baby on board a train after it was halted at a station in Dakshina Kannada district, officials said on Monday.
According to railway sources, the passenger began experiencing labour pain during the journey on Sunday. The train was stopped at B C Road station in Bantwal taluk of this district to facilitate medical assistance. However, no doctor reached the spot for over 30 minutes after the halt.
In the absence of immediate medical support, two co-passengers stepped in to assist the woman. The delivery was conducted in the train's toilet compartment. Both the mother and the newborn were reported to be safe following the delivery, they said.
Railway police officials had arranged for the woman to be shifted to a medical facility. She was admitted to the Government Lady Goschen Hospital in Mangaluru for postnatal care.
According to the OBG (Obstetrics and Gynecology) department officials at the hospital, the child and mother will be discharged after the initial observation period is over.
They told PTI that the delivery was done in trying conditions. The two ladies who carried out the operation had done a good job. The child and mother arrived at the facility 22 kilometers from the spot. Also, the mother experienced no blood loss or any other complications.
The neonate has been incubated and the mother is undergoing normal observational procedure at the hospital, the hospital officials said.
Officials said the woman is a resident of Mysuru and had been travelling home at the time of the incident.
