Chennai: A visually impaired man was living his life by getting alms from the people in Chinnagoundanur village of Pavakkal Panchayat in Tamil Nadu's Krishnagiri district all alone without any shoulder to lend help. His everyday routine was to get alms, use some of the money for daily expenses and save the rest for the future. In the same way, he saved Rs 65,000 in all the years but only on Sunday to the shock of his life he got to know that all his money was worthless.
Five years after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, the visually-impaired destitute got to know about the announcement only on Sunday and realised that all his savings were in the old currency notes, that were stripped. Hence, he has requested the Krishnagiri Collector to help him from losing his savings.
According to a report on The New Indian Express, a 65-year-old Chinnakannu recently learned about demonetisation from a cobbler Kannaiyan and rushed to the Collectorate for help.
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In a letter to the district Collector, Chinnakannu said that he was unaware of the demonetisation and explained his plight that he has nobody and none of the people had informed him about the announcement. Hence, he urged the Collector to provide him with new currency for the same amount, said a report on The Hindu.
Chinnakkannu also said that apart from Rs 500 and Rs 1,000, he only had Rs 300 as his saving and he will soon run out of any cash.
Following this, the Collector forwarded the petition to the District Revenue Officer who told Chinnakannu to inform the district lead bank manager and take the issue with him.
The District Lead Bank is likely to forward the issue with the Reserve Bank of India since the exchange of cash was permitted only till March 31, 2017.
Meanwhile, the district administration has arranged for an elderly pension to support Chinnakannu in the coming days.