Set up corpus fund to compensate chit fund investors : Cong

Accusing Odisha government of failing to protect interest of small investors duped by different chitfund companies in the state, opposition Congress today demanded creation of a corpus fund along the lines of West Bengal to compensate them.
"We hope you will show equal amount of empathy as West Bengal. This is because the government has to take responsibility for mistakes by its functionaries," Odisha PCC president Niranjan Patnaik wrote to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
Stating that there was phenomenal growth in non-banking and MFIs in the state, the OPCC president said these organizations had flouted rules laid down by RBI and cooperative laws and announced various ponzi schemes to defraud lakhs of small depositors of crores of rupees causing misery and hardship.

"Such incidents of cheating and fraud are not new and yet the government has been a mute spectator, intervening with criminal investigations only after people have lost their deposits ... What is the point in waking up after the horse has bolted ?" he asked.
"I specifically demand that the state takes vicarious liability for mistakes in law enforcement and poor regulation and compensate the depositors to mitigate the hardship of the investors partially."
The Congress leader said the chief minister must be aware of speculations about involvement of some BJD MLAs with some of these institutions, particularly Saradha Group in Puri district and called for thorough probe and exemplary punishment of the concerned people.

However, till investigation was completed the enforcement mechanism should be strengthened and interim measures be taken to prevent further crimes.