Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government is working on a new set of guidelines to streamline the refund process for depositors duped by chit fund firms, Chief Minister Mohan Majhi said on Monday.
Responding to a query of Congress MLA Sofia Fidrous in writing during the Question Hour, the CM said that the aim is to expedite the process in a hassle-free and transparent manner.
He further informed that 96,474 beneficiaries have so far received refunds worth Rs 45.69 crore. “The government is taking swift measures to ensure that the remaining depositors receive their refunds promptly,” he said.
In Odisha, chit fund firms collected around Rs 4,600 crore by defrauding about a million people.
In its seven interim reports to the government, the Justice M M Das commission of inquiry, which was probing the unauthorised collection of public deposits, had recommended compensation for 4,97,844 small investors while naming more than 450 sham companies for duping these victims.
REACTIONS
BJD MLA Sarada Jena, however, questioned the delay when the BJP before 2024 elections had promised to refund the money depositors had lost within 3 months. “Nine months have passed since, and the government is now contemplating new guidelines to ease the process,” he said.
Congress MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati said it was just a political gimmick. “The BJP government had promised to refund the depositors a day after coming to power. Unfortunately, no depositor has been summoned or money returned to them,” he said.
In his counter, BJP MLA Saroj Pandhi said that the previous BJD government looted people of the state under the garb of chit fund firms. “There were also irregularities in the Rs 300-crore corpus fund set up to refund small depositors. They are now objecting when the CM announced new guidelines to ease the process and ensure that the depositors get back their lost deposits,” he added.
