After trying everything they could to persuade the State Government to redress their grievances, the depositors who have lost their savings of a lifetime to chit fund companies have now decided to resort to ‘No refund, no vote’.
In an ultimatum to the Government, nearly 50 lakh duped depositors have threatened to exercise the newly-introduced ‘none of the above’ (NOTA) option in the coming elections if the process of returning their hard-earned money does not begin during the ongoing session of the State Assembly.
Convenor of the Depositors’ United Front advocate Jayanta Das said on Thursday the people who have lost everything due to the chit fund scam have been running from pillar to post for the last seven months to get back their money, but to no avail. The state government, which protected and promoted the fraudulent companies, has all along been trying to take the depositors for a ride, he alleged.
Asking the Government to complete the process of identifying the losers and quantifying their losses through the tehsils, Das said that if it fails to complete the process before the end of the Assembly session, the front would launch a campaign for use of the NOTA option.
Questioning the inclination and the ability of the government to return the money to the depositors despite the Rs300 crore corpus fund created for the purpose and the Depositors’ Protection Act, Das said, “While nearly 50 lakh depositors have lost money to the tune of Rs5, 000 crore, the assets that the Government has managed to seize under the Act amounts to no more than Rs150 crore belonging to two or three companies. At this rate, how long would it take for the Government to seize the assets of the 192 such companies, auction them and return the money to the depositors, he asked.