A large number of women belonging to Self Help Groups (SHG) are victims of a fraud in Papadahandi block. The members of the SHGs could realise the fraudulent activities of their Samiti Member when representatives of various financial institutions came for collection of loan to their villages.
The Samiti Member misappropriated the sanctioned loan worth lakhs of rupees by taking thumb impression of the illiterate and gullible SHG members of Saraguda and Bariuda villages.
According to report, the Samiti Member collected ration cards and voter identity cards, for obtaining loan for the SHGs from two private financing banks from Nabarangpur. He also took their left thumb impressions (LTI) in some papers. However, the concerned representative gave each woman of the groups only Rs 2,000 each and siphoned off lakhs of rupees which was sanctioned to the SHGs, they complained.
In this connection, the SHG women of Saraguda and Bariguda lodged a complaint with the Superintendent of Police, Nabarangpur. Again three SHG women groups of Soraguda under Jatabal gram panchayats also complained at the Papadahandi police station.
According to the complaints, the SHG women were unaware of the loans sanctioned in their favour. It came to light only when the financers like Axis Bank, Grama Shakti Private Finance and Fusian Private Finance came to their villages for collecting the loan amount sanctioned against them.
It was revealed to them that each woman had been sanctioned Rs 20,000 from Axis Bank, Rs 25,100 from the Grama Shakti Finance and Rs 20,000 from Fusian Finance and the rate of interest stands between 20 to 22 per cent.
After scrutinising the documents, the loan has been released within May this year and the loan has to be cleared in 18 instalments in each finance.
Meanwhile, the concerned Samiti Member has already deposited three instalments of each groups in each bank. But when he stopped depositing instalments, the representatives of the financial organizations approached the SHGs women. The Fusion Finance showed the documents to them.
Meanwhile, Collector Ajit Kumar Mishra directed DPM Odisha Livelihood Mission, Uma Maheswar for a detail inquiry report.
The DPM along with Papadahandi block coordinator and project coordinator rushed to the villages and discussed with them and collected the documents available near the SHGs.