Khagaria: Amina Khatoon from Rampur Gogri village in Khagaria district, Bihar, had been waiting for years to receive her first instalment under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana to build her house. Even after her approval, the money never came to her account. Later, she found out that Union Bank’s Jamalpur branch had wrongly credited the amount to another person. That person was already a loan defaulter, and the bank used the money to adjust his loan.
Amina was shocked when the block office sent her a notice to start building her house to get the next instalment. Confused and worried, she filed an online complaint under The Bihar Right to Public Grievance Redressal Act, which ensures that complaints are resolved within 60 working days. The District Public Grievance Redressal Officer (DPGRO) of Khagaria took up her complaint and issued notices to the bank manager and block officials to attend a hearing on her case.
During the hearing, the bank manager admitted that the money was credited to a loan defaulter’s account and adjusted against his dues. He said that without permission from higher bank authorities, it could not be given back to Amina. The grievance officer said it was wrong and unfair to use a poor woman’s housing funds to clear someone else’s debt, as she would remain homeless forever if not helped.
Finally, after the officer’s strict orders, the bank took permission from its head office and credited the money to Amina’s account. Seeing the amount in her account after such a long wait brought tears of relief to her eyes. This shows how grievance redressal laws can truly help people like Amina get their rightful benefits from government schemes.
