Furore in state assembly over chit fund scam

Opposition accuses Odisha state government of shielding ruling party MLAs, demands threadbare discussion on scandals

The Odisha assembly witnessed pandemonium with the Opposition Congress rushing to the well of the house, demanding a threadbare discussion on the chit fund scam in the state.

While the Congress had moved an adjournment motion to corner the treasury benches on the scam, the speaker said the motion will be admitted on Monday.

Opposition leader Bhupinder Singh said the steps taken by the state government with respect to the chit fund scam were all aimed at shielding the ruling party MLAs involved in the scam. Though the owner of a chit fund had gone on record saying several ministers and legislators were his beneficiaries, the police never bothered to investigate the matter, he said.

Earlier, both the Congress and the BJP had demanded a white paper on the chit fund scam due to which millions of unsuspecting investors in the state were duped by fraudulent financial companies who lured them with unrealistic high returns on their investments.

To probe the multi-crore chit fund scam, the state government had constituted an enquiry commission headed by retired Chief Justice of Sikkim High Court R K Patra. A corpus fund of Rs 300 crore was also announced to give relief to the genuine small investors who have lost their money in the scam.

As per government estimates, 650,000 people have been duped to the tune of Rs 4,375 crore between January 2012 and June 2013, by the chit fund companies operating in the state. The state police and crime branch have taken action against 127 firms, filed 280 cases and arrested more than 300 persons for involvement in the illegal money making schemes.

Recently, the state got the Presidential nod to its investor protection Bill passed in the assembly in December 2011. The Bill- Odisha Protection of Interests of Depositors (in Financial Establishment) 2011 - has now got the President's assent, and will arm the state government to initiate punitive action against the offenders. Recent incidents of embezzlement of public money by shady institutions threw the government into a tizzy besides brewing widespread