A bank run by beggars, for beggars in Bihar town


Posted on 27th Mar 2015 05:36 pm by mohit kumar

Gaya (Bihar), March 27 (IANS) A group of beggars in this Bihar town has opened their own bank, which they run and manage to provide financial security in times of crisis.

Dozens of beggars, who have been depending for their survival on alms from hundreds of Hindu devotees at the gate of 'Maa Manglagauri Mandir' (temple) in Gaya town for years, have started the bank.

The beggars call it Mangala Bank.

"It is true that we have established a bank for ourselves," said Raj Kumar Manjhi, one of the 40 beggars who are members of this unique "bank".

"Bank's manager, treasurer and secretary along with one agent and other member, who are running and managing it, are all beggars," Manjhi told IANS in Gaya, about 100 km from here. Manjhi, incidentally, is the manager of the bank.

Manjhi, who is literate enough to manage the accounts and other works of the bank, said: "Each of us (beggars) deposits Rs.20 every Tuesday in the bank that comes to Rs.800 weekly deposit."

Malti Devi, who is secretary of the bank that was established six months ago, said: "It began last year with a big hope and to fulfill aspirations of beggars. We are still not treated well in the society because we are poorest of the poor."

Malti now reaches out to more and more beggars by opening their account.

"Most of the beggars who are members of the 'bank' have neither BPL (Below Poverty Line) card nor Aadhaar card," she said.

Manjhi's wife Nagina Devi is treasurer of the bank. She said: "My duty is to manage the deposit money."

Bank's agent Vanarik Paswan said his job is to collect money from each member weekly for deposit.

Manjhi said their bank helped him when he faced an emergency.

"Early this month, my daughter and sister sustained burn injuries while cooking. The bank has provided me a loan of Rs.8,000 for their medical treatment. It is an example of how the bank can help a beggar like me without any paper work or guarantor as practiced in nationalised and private banks," he said.

Manjhi would not have to pay interest on his loan for a month.

"The bank has made it mandatory to pay interest on a loan at the rate of 2 to 5 percent from next month to put pressure to pay back loan amount," Malti said.

Beggars like Nathun Budha, Basant Manjhi, Rita Masomat, Dhaula Devi said that they were happy that at least now they have their own bank.

"We saved some money at least now and deposit in the bank," said Basant.

Rita said they have been depositing money in the bank to meet her future needs.

Nathun added that what was unique about their bank is the fact that it is owned and managed by beggars who decide on the rules and regulations themselves.

The beggars were encouraged to start their own bank by officials of State Society for Ultra Poor and Social Welfare last year.

(Imran Khan can be contacted at imran.k@ians.in)

0 Like 0 Dislike
Previous news Next news
Other news

IOC session 2023: 140th meeting of the International Olympic Committee will be held in Mumbai, India will host after 40 years

The 140th meeting of the International Olympic Committee will be held in Mumbai. During the 139th

Jiah Khan Suicide Case: Family happy after Sooraj Pancholi's acquittal, sweets distributed in media too

Jiah Khan Suicide Case: Ten years ago on June 3, 2013, the news of the death of actress Jiah Khan

A big mishap happened on the set of Dhurandhar, 120 people suddenly fell ill; were admitted to the hospital

Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh is in the news these days for his most-awaited film Dhurandhar. Now

55 countries issued manifestos regarding the future of the internet, India is not involved in it at present, America said - doors are open

The White House said on Thursday that more than 55 countries have announced a manifesto about the

Alarm bells have rung for Shreyas Iyer, will the leaves be cut from the Asia Cup?

Team India's middle-order batsman Shreyas Iyer has cemented his place in the ODI team, but his tr

Gurugram - Administration constitutes 7 new teams for prevention of Corona infection

Gurugram The district administration does not want to leave any stone unturned in the prevention

Sri Lankan President thanked India: Wickremesinghe said - Prime Minister Modi saved us, India was with us in difficult times

Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe has thanked India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for

Saleh's statement: IS-K's relationship with Taliban and Haqqani network, terrorists present in Pakistan's shelter are plotting

Amrullah Saleh, who declared himself the caretaker president of Afghanistan, on Friday targeted t

IND vs NZ 2nd ODI: Virat Kohli targets major records of Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, aims to create history in Rajkot.

Indian cricket team's star batsman Virat Kohli is currently in superb form. The second match of t

Tilak Varma: Ind vs WI T20 Playing 11 Who will debut Yashasvi or Tilak Varma? Both teams can be like this in the first T20

IND vs WI Playing 11, 1st T20: After Tests and ODIs, now it is time for the thrill of quick crick

Sign up to write
Sign up now if you have flare of writing..
Login   |   Register
Follow Us
Indyaspeak @ Facebook Indyaspeak @ Twitter Indyaspeak @ Pinterest RSS



Play Free Quiz and Win Cash