Vijaysinh Parmar TNN
Junagadh: Life had dealt her a raw deal. After she lost her husband and daughter to illness, this 40-year-old widow had also lost all hope of getting back the money she and her husband had kept in a bank deposit 16 years ago. Then two years ago, Chandrika Thakkar, discovered the Right To Information Act. Today, not only has she won part of her money back, she has won her confidence back.
“In 1993, my husband made a fixed deposit with the then State Bank of Saurashtra in Bhavnagar. We lived in East Africa where my husband worked as an accountant,” says Chandrika. But, the couple was in for a shock when they returned to India.
“The bank officials told us the FDs had been withdrawn. We tried in vain to tell them we had been out of the country and could not have withdrawn the money,’’ Chandrika recalls.
A year later, three fraudsters were booked for withdrawing the money by faking signatures. But, Chandrika’s troubles were far from over. The bank was not ready to give back the money till the criminal case pending before the court was over.
“We could not reason with them. Though our names were not in the FIR, the document was being used against us. My life worsened as my husband fell ill and I found it difficult to make ends meet. My husband could not get the best treatment and eventually died in 2003,” says a teary-eyed Chandrika, who had to go through the ordeal of losing her eight-year-old daughter to illness a year later. “I couldn’t help her either.’’
Today, Chandrika lives with her mother in Junagadh and works as an anganwadi worker.
After Chandrika was told about RTI,she walked in to the Central Information Commission office and sought all details. It took her five RTI applications and eight appeals before she won the battle and the bank repaid her Rs 2.29 lakh, which includes the 11-year interest. “My struggle is still on as there is a part of the deposit the bank has to pay. But, now I am not apprehensive for I have the power of RTI,” she smiles.
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