PMC: Two elderly citizens fall ill at protests held outside the RBI

Two elderly persons fell ill and were rushed to the hospital when they were protesting outside the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) office in Mumbai along with other depositors of the Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative demanding the RBI to revoke restrictions on the bank. 

Two elderly citizens fell ill at protests held outside the RBI

Depositors of the scam-hit Punjab And Maharashtra Cooperative Bank staged protests outside the RBI on Saturday. The protestors were demanding the RBI to revoke the restrictions on the deposit withdrawal. The withdrawal was initially capped at Rs. 1000, causing panic and distress among depositors. Subsequently, it was raised to Rs. 10,000 and to Rs. 40,000 earlier this week by the RBI.

PMC Bank's scam claims four lives

The bank's scam has left the nation infuriated after four depositors have passed away since the scam broke out. Two people died due to cardiac arrest while a woman committed suicide due to troubles arising as a result of financial trouble, due to the bank. An 83-year-old depositor, who was a heart patient died on October 18, his family claimed they were unable to arrange funds to pay for critical heart surgery. It can be noted that all the depositors who died had a huge amount of money stuck in the bank, in the region of over Rs 80 lakh each.

The police registered an FIR against the bank's top officials and the promoters of the Housing Development and Infrastructure Limited (HDIL). According to reports, the bank continued giving loans to the debt-ridden HDIL from 2008 to 2019 despite the previous loans not being repaid. This caused a loss of nearly Rs.4,355 crore. Besides, the promoters of HDIL, the former Managing Director Joy Thomas, ex-Chairman Waryam Singh and former Director Surjit Singh Arora were also arrested and sent to police custody. 

Despite assurances given by the government, the depositors and account holders have been severely hit by the scam. Hundreds of account holders have been protesting across the country. The depositors are hit as their hard-earned money is now stuck in the banks. 

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