Ganjam: In a shocking incident, an Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) and her daughter at Rishipur village under Purushottampur police limits in Odisha’s Ganjam district, under the pretence of providing healthcare services to women, obtained their signatures and availed loans worth lakhs of rupees in their names from various finance companies before fleeing.
The matter came to light after the women staged a protest in front of Purushottampur police station Saturday demanding immediate arrest of the culprit.
Notably, the affected women had filed a complaint in this regard five days back. Following the complaint, police had registered a case (667/24) against the ASHA and her daughter. However, they have not taken significant action prompting the women to stage a protest.
On the other hand, due to the absence of the ASHA in the village, newborns, mothers and pregnant women have been deprived of vaccinations and other services for the past two months.
Subhasini Pattnaik of Rishipur village lodged the complaint stating that 60 women in the village had formed a self-help group, with the ASHA identified as Kuni Pattnaik serving as the group leader. They had been facilitating loans from various finance companies. However, in recent months Pinki withdrew money from the women’s accounts without their knowledge and transferred funds, after which they absconded. The women became aware of the fraud when finance company employees started visiting their homes to collect the monthly installments, which had not been repaid.
The protesting women alleged that since Kuni was an ASHA in the village, she used to ask for signatures under the pretext of healthcare services and collected bank passbooks, telling women that they would receive financial aid through government schemes.
The women accused her of misappropriating money this way.
An investigation is ongoing and action will be taken, said the investigating officer Kshetramohan Sahu.
