Investors Duped By Chit Fund Companies Ask State Govt To Deliver Promise Of Refund

Bhawanipatna: Hundreds of investors who had been duped by Chit Fund companies in Odisha on Tuesday took out a rally in Kalahandi’s Junagarh town and protested against the false promises made by the state government.

They staged a protest under the banner of “Jamakari Gana Satyagraha” and submitted a memorandum to the Governor through the Tehsildar.

The investors demanded refund of small and large deposits and identification of depositors through their respective Tehsils. They expressed concern over the statement made by the Principal Secretary, Finance, Ashok Meena that the government will not facilitate refund of over Rs 10,000.

They alleged that they have been victims of lies by the Chit Fund companies as well as the state government. “Initially, the Chit companies cheated us, and now, the government is doing the same thing. Seven years have passed but our money has not been returned to us,”said an investor, Latika Naik.

President of Satyagraha, Jayanta Dash, told the media that the government welcomed the companies and signed an MoU with them. The Chit Fund companies duped the investors till 2013. In these seven years, the government lied to the investors, saying the money will be returned to them. “The companies were sealed by the government and later, it promised that Rs 300 crore corpus fund has been raised to return the money but till today, it has not returned money to the investors,” Das alleged.

He said that the government has not begun the process of identifying the investors then how will it return the money. 

Among others, General Secretary Madhusudan Bishwal, CPI leader Damodar Behera, Amar Sahu, Joint Secretary Umesh Nayak, Purna Ch Pradhan addressed the people.