Duped Chit Fund Investors Take Out Huge Rally In Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar: Demanding refund of money, thousands of duped chit fund investors across the Odisha took out a huge rally from the Master Canteen Square here on Tuesday.

The protesters under the banner of the Chit Fund Khyatigrasta Jamakari Milita Manch marched towards the Lower PMG Square where they will stage an indefinite sit-in dharna till their demands are met.

“The state government should identify the duped chit fund investors and take necessary arrangements to refund their money at the earliest. We will continue our civil disobedience till the government refunds our money,” convener of the Manch and RTI activist Jayant Das told the media here.

Taking a dig at the state government, Das said while the former is able to identify the beneficiaries under its newly-launched KALIA scheme within weeks and credit money to their bank account, it has shown gross apathy towards the chit fund investors who have been demanding refund for more than six years.

He said that the state government in 2013 had announced a corpus fund of Rs 300 crore to refund the money to the chit fund investors. But it is yet to take any step in this regard. While Justice MM Das Commission of Inquiry has identified nearly 3.5 lakh small investors (who have deposited Rs 10,000 and less in the chit fund companies) and recommended the state government to refund their money, the latter is yet to take any steps in this regard, he alleged.