An old lady, who looked in her mid-80s, sat quietly on one of the few chairs in front of the Treasury office in Tripunithura on the New Year day. She was waiting for a call from the treasury office to get her pension.
The first day of every month and the following few days, the sub-treasury office at Tripunithura is witness to the plight of the elderly, who have to climb up two floors to collect their pension.
When K. S. Rajan, former village officer, about 80 years old, came out of the treasury office, he looked relieved of the day’s wait. “It is tough for us to climb up two floors to get the pension”.
Sosamma, a retired head mistress from a school in Kakkanad, said: “Most of us have knee problems. It's difficult to climb up”.
Everyone here in the queue would be over 60 years, said a retired head nurse from the General Hospital. There is little arrangement for people to sit. But for the two benches and few chairs, others have to wait for their turn to collect pension. “Once here, we have to stay put for long hours. We cannot even think of finishing some other work and coming back because you have to climb up again,” she said.
G. Natarajan, 68-year-old who was in the Health Services, said the renovated Sub-Treasury office on the ground floor was ready. But the department was yet to take a decision to shift, he said. The office was shifted to the second floor early in 2013 following renovation work on the ground floor. It is learnt that Infrastructure Kerala (Inkel) had completed the renovation work a month ago and had already sent a completion certificate to the Treasury directorate. However, no orders have been issued yet to shift the office.
