B'luru women rush to GPO to open A/cs , anticipating Cong win

Bengaluru, NT Bureau: The General Post Office (GPO) in the city has been witnessing an unprecedented rush of women to open Indian Post Payment Bank (IPPB) accounts, anticipating a monthly deposit of Rs 8,500 if the Opposition INDIA bloc comes to power at the Centre toppling the BJP-led government.

This uncommon sight was witnessed in Bengaluru after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi announced the 'Mahalakshmi' scheme, which promises Rs 1 lakh per year for women.

The scheme, aimed at providing financial support to women, has triggered a massive response, with women arriving as early as 3 am to stand in the queue.

A GPO staffer on Wednesday said, "For the last four-five days, we are seeing this rush of women eager to open their IPBP accounts."

She added that this responsex was fueled by a rumour spread on WhatsApp that May 27 was the last day to open an account. This misinformation led to a chaotic situation, with women from different parts of the city converging on the GPO before sunrise.

The gatherings at the otherwise quiet GPO have increased to the extent that police had to be called in to manage the crowd and prevent any pushing and shoving.

False rumours, clarifies GPO

The GPO officials clarified that there is no such scheme at present to deposit Rs 8,000 monthly in accounts. A notice was put up outside the office stating that there are no incentives or special payments associated with the account openings.

However, even after clarification, women continue to insist on opening their accounts, believing in the promise of financial aid. To streamline the process, the GPO officials introduced a token system for account openings.

However, some individuals began obtaining multiple tokens and began selling them for a profit. In response, the GPO started issuing tokens based on the last digits of Aadhaar cards to ensure fairness.

Officials emphasized that IPBP accounts can be opened at any post office or online, and post office staff are available to visit beneficiaries' homes for Aadhaar verification.

Despite these options, the majority of people prefer to visit the GPO, leading to the deployment of additional staff to manage the surge. According to officials, on Tuesday alone, more than a thousand accounts were opened.

Fake messages on Whatsapp

When asked, a few women replied that local political leaders claimed women will start getting money after June 4, "when the INDIA bloc is set to come to power."

Chief Postmaster of GPO Bengaluru HM Manjesh said that earlier, they used to open 50 to 60 accounts at a counter. 

"Now we have made separate arrangements. We have brought our postmen in for this purpose and we are regularly opening 500 to 600 accounts, sometimes even 1,000 accounts in a day," Manjesh said.

The Congress has made a promise to launch the Mahalakshmi scheme under which Rs 8,500 will be directly credited to the account of women heads of families per month belonging to Below Poverty Line (BPL) category.