Why a bank in Punjab is refusing a schizophrenia patient his pension
In what comes as a shameful and dehumanising act, Shivinder Singh Bedi, a Punjab resident suffering from schizophrenia, has been denied his rightful source of sustenance owing to bank bureaucracy. Despite every possible treatment sought for him by his family in the past four decades, since he was diagnosed with the disorder, there has been no improvement in his mental state. Throughout this time, he remained dependent on his family's support, especially that of his father Amarjit Singh Bedi, who served as an excise and taxation officer in Punjab.
Realising how an indifferent society might treat his son, Amarjit — who died in 2010 — made sure that Shivinder, now a senior citizen, would be a joint beneficiary of the family pension along with his mother, Damyanti Bedi. After the latter's death in November 2016, their joint pension account at Bank of India's Tej Complex branch in Hoshiarpur saw no disbursement of funds despite every available documentation being in Shivinder's favour.
The bank staff have been refusing to cooperate with him because they expect him to behave like any ordinary individual when he visits the bank, which is not possible given his debilitating disorder. Is it right on the part of the bankers to expect Shivinder to show respect for their bureaucratic culture, especially when he has been rendered "abnormal" by destiny?
And, when the state government and every rulebook says he is a deserving beneficiary of the family pension?
Besides the joint pension account, Shivinder had, in his name, an independent savings account at the same branch; he had been taught to operate the individual account so he could execute transactions in the absence of physical support. However, the bank closed this account unilaterally, without any written request from him for closure — they clearly overlooked, rather ignored, his lifelong disability.
Today, he continues to live in his ancestral house at Hoshiarpur with some support coming from his brothers settled outside Punjab, but this can’t be a lasting solution for him or for that matter for anyone else suffering a mental disorder.
Owing to his condition, few unscruplous persons have already duped him of a small piece of land at Subash Nagar, valued at nearly Rs 12 lakh today, and of his Post Office savings of about Rs 1.35 lakh. This money could have been better utilised to shift him to a professional asylum, or perhaps closer to his brothers for better care at this age.
Where is the Mental Health Policy?
It is now 15 months since every penny due to him as pensionary benefit has failed to reach his account. It may be appropriate to recall here that the country's first ever Mental Health Policy was unveiled by the Union government in October 2014. At the time, the then Union health minister had said that universal access to mental health care was a specific goal of the government, which would find substantial articulation in the evolving National Health Policy and National Health Assurance Mission (NHAM).
The policy was launched on the first ever National Mental Health Day organised by the government. Inter alia, the policy aimed to acquire a pro-poor orientation because only the creamy layer of society was perceived to be having easier access to mental health care in the country's more advanced Metros and cities. It was backed up by the “Mental Health Action Plan 365”, clearly spelling out the specific roles to be played by the central government, the state governments, local bodies and civil society organisations.
Remarking on the significance of National Mental Health Day, Vardhan had said: “It is an occasion for raising people’s awareness of mental illnesses and removing the false perceptions attached to them. We want a nation that upholds the human rights of mental patients. Also, it will be an occasion to generate awareness against stigmatisation of people with mental illnesses and highlight the symptoms and remedial opportunities for those with depression, schizophrenia, bipolar syndrome, etc.”
One hopes that in this test case, the Bank of India — the custodian of the earned pension for a disabled son — will finally rise to the occasion to deliver justice to a schizophrenic on the threshold of his last few years!
Should the bank not have shown empathy to help such a case through initiative more than compliance, following the vision of the new government at least? How would it be if such a disorder hit close to home — if a bank staffer’s children or her siblings were to suffer from schizophrenia?
Of what use are the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) visions of commercial banks if, in reality, this is how they offer basic services? It begs the question of whether someone from the bank's board of directors will now take the initiative to help the Shivinder.
A resolution in Shivinder’s case will also become a test case for the nation on how our society and responsible bankers treat such unfortunate victims of fate. A mental condition is an individual’s challenge, not a social disability. Not in the least for bankers endowed with all the public wealth.