I am a victim of chit fund scam too: Odisha CM Mohan Majhi
Bhubaneswar, Dec 24: Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Tuesday claimed that he was also a victim of chit fund scams and urged people to be aware of the activities of ponzi firms to save their hard-earned money.
Majhi said this while addressing a function to celebrate the State Level National Consumers Day here. "I was also a victim of chit fund scams. Two firms had duped me in 1990 and 2002," the chief minister said, adding that he could not get back his money as the process of recovering the money was too cumbersome and too lengthy.
Claiming that he lost the investment in two ponzi firms, the chief minister said he was influenced by the sweet talks made by the firm agents and arranged money to deposit in certain schemes. "However, when the maturity period came, I could not find the companies where money was deposited," he said.
The chief minister said there has been a lot of change now as the Centre has formulated and strengthened regulations to stop cheating and duping of consumers.
The CM praised the BJP-led central government for amending the Chit Funds Act, 1982, in 2019, to ensure transparency in chit fund schemes. He mentioned that the amended legislation addressed the loopholes in the previous Act.
In Odisha, around 70 lakh people were allegedly duped by ponzi firms. Following a Supreme Court order in May 2014, the CBI investigated at least 44 companies, including Kolkata-based Saradha Group and Odisha-based Seashore and Artha Tatwa groups. These ponzi firms reportedly collected around Rs 4,600 crore from people in the state over four years.
Before the 2014 general elections, the then BJD government led by Naveen Patnaik formed a commission and set up a Rs 300 crore corpus fund to refund the duped small depositors. The commission, headed by Justice MM Das, identified around 1 lakh small depositors who lost Rs 10,000 or less.
In response to a written question in the Assembly, Majhi informed that around 2 lakh small investors had already received their money back.
Jayant Das, convenor of the Odisha Khytigratha Jamakari Milita Manch, criticised the state government for not taking measures to refund money to depositors duped by different ponzi firms, despite the ruling BJP’s election promise to refund the chit fund-affected people within 18 months.
However, Housing and Urban Development Minister KC Mohapatra assured that the BJP government would keep its promise and that the depositors would get their money back in the coming days.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
