LS passes unregulated deposit schemes Bill

The Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed a Bill that provides a comprehensive mechanism to ban unregulated deposit schemes and protects interests of depositors, amid slogan shouting by the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Samajawadi Party (SP) members.

Replying to a debate on the Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Bill, 2018, Union Finance Minister Piyush Goyal said the government has tried to put an end to unauthorised deposit schemes.

"We have ensured that no loopholes are left by using great legal acumen while drafting the Bill. I want to assure the House while drafting the rules, we will ensure there are no loopholes," he said.

The SP members were protesting against lathicharge on its leaders in Prayagraj on Tuesday, while the TMC members were up in arms over issues like actions of the CBI and the ED against its leaders.

Taking a jibe at the TMC, Goyal said it seems some parties do not want to protect the poors' money who deposit their income in ponzi schemes.

"Some parties do not want to pass the Bill as they are afraid of being named. It was decided at an all-party meeting on Tuesday that the Bill would be passed. But the current scene shows who is trying to stop the Bill."

As 15 members of different parties supported the Bill and some even raised queries, Goyal said over 978 cases of unauthorised schemes have been registered between July 2014 and May 2018. Of this, 326 were registered in West Bengal, he added.

TMC's Sudip Bandopadhyay said his party supported the Bill, but the Saradha scam was not properly investigated.

"This must be taken care of. The West Bengal government led by Mamata Banerjee had passed a stronger Bill than this, which has been forwarded to the Centre. I hope the Bill, passed by the Banerjee government, will also be considered," Bandopadhyay said.

He also opposed the term 'chit fund' and asked why should any fund be recognised as a chit fund. "Why should the government not declare that the term 'chit fund' itself is banned? These funds do not say they are chit funds. They come as regular businesses, nobody can detect that they have chit fund business. The name should be abolished and they should not be allowed to conduct their businesses," he said.

Shiv Sena's Anandrao Adsul, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury (Congress), Mohammad Salim (CPI-M), Bhartruhari Mahtab (BJD), Jitendra Reddy (TRS), Farooq Abdullah (National Conference) and N.K. Premchandran of the Revolutionary Socialist Party supported the bill.

Salim accused the TMC for its involvement in ponzi schemes in West Bengal, saying Trinamool leaders should be sent to jail and their properties seized to recover the public money.

This led to heated arguments between the TMC and the CPI-M members.

--IANS

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