Maharashtra farmer in trouble after finding Rs. 15L in account
In August 2021, farmer Gyaneshwar Ote from Maharashtra's Aurangabad was delighted to find that Rs. 15 lakh had been deposited in his Jan Dhan bank account. Thinking the money was given by the government, Ote even withdrew Rs. 9 lakh to build a house. However, six months later, his dreams were shattered when he received a notice from the bank, calling it a "mistake."
Why does this story matter?
Notably, in his 2014 election campaign, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised to deposit Rs. 15 lakh in the bank accounts of every citizen after bringing back black money from abroad. Hence, the farmer thought the money had been sent to his account by PM Modi. Incidentally, such mistaken transfers by banks are rare, but not unheard of.
Ote thanked Modi thinking PM fulfilled promise
After receiving the money in his Bank of Baroda account, Ote reportedly waited for a few months. But the transaction was neither reversed nor anybody contacted him regarding the matter. Assuming the transfer to be the government's fulfillment of its promise, Ote had also expressed his gratitude by writing a letter to PM Modi.
What did he write to Modi?
As per reports, in his letter to PM Modi, Ote had written, "Thank you very much for depositing money in my account. With the money you sent, my dream of a new home has come true."
What was the money actually meant for?
As it turns out, the money was actually allocated to the Pimpalwadi gram panchayat for development purposes. After months of an internal inquiry by the bank, it was revealed that the money had been deposited in the wrong account. Thereafter, the bank took back Rs. 6 lakh that was still left in Ote's account. Now, bank officials are requesting Ote to return the rest.
Ote faces pressure to repay remaining Rs. 9L
Ote is yet to repay the remaining Rs. 9 lakh that he spent on building his house. He is reportedly facing pressure from the bank to return the remaining amount. However, he said he does not have the means to repay such a huge amount.
