In the eye of storm over the Saradha chit fund scam, the Bengal Government on Wednesday mooted a new social security scheme apparently to shove out the ponzi swindlers and arrest the massive channelisation of rural savings in shady schemes.
Announcing her Government’s plans, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said, “As we can see the common man in the grip of great financial insecurity, we are planning a new social security scheme” that would insulate the people from being taken in by the chit funds.
Soon the proposal would be put up on a designated website of the Finance Department for the common man’s appraisal.
“We will put it on the Finance Ministry’s website so that the people can give their opinion on this after which we will make a law on this,” Banerjee said, reminding how her Government was concerned about the economic condition of the people particularly in the wake of the chit fund scam.
“We are thinking of a social security scheme where the people can keep their money and get good return of this without being cheated by the shady groups,” the Chief Minister who had of late come under attack by the Opposition for ignoring the chit fund crisis and allowing her partymen to hobnob with the ponzy fund managers like Sudipta Sen.
The Government might not be able to give high rate of interest but at least their money will be safe, she said, adding how falling interests of the small saving schemes and unavailability of the postal savings and banking services in the interior areas had led the unsuspecting people opt for chit funds.
Economist Aviroop Sarkar said the “scheme would be of good use for the common man” while fellow economist Suman Mukherjee wondered whether such scheme would be viable and whether the Government would be able to compete with the other institutions to draw investors.
Senior State CPI(M) leader Anisur Rehman said “under pressure from all quarters for its involvement in the chit fund scam the Trinamool Congress is trying to divert the attention of the people by such schemes” adding once again “they are trying to cover one failure with other.”
There was a big question mark over “whether the RBI clearances would be available”, he said. He also questioned the feasibility of a scheme like this “when there are already such schemes in the form of cooperative banks and similar institutions.”
Meanwhile, police grilling Saradha chief Sudipta Sen reportedly had summed up the total amount he had collected from the market for the past few years. According to sources in the police, the company collected Rs 2,100 crore out of which it returned Rs 800 crore to the depositors.
“They spent Rs 400 crore to entertain the politicians and bureaucrats. Another Rs 500 crore was spent to raise the infrastructural facilities,” a senior officer said.