E Midnapore chit funds asked to repay investors

23 April 2013

biswabrata goswami
TAMLUK, 23 APRIL: The Trinamul Congress ruled East Midnapore zilla-parishad has asked chit fund companies in the district to immediately refund to investors the money they mopped up in the course of their operations. The amount such companies have collected is believed to be in the range of Rs 2,000 crore in the district alone.
The zilla-parishad's step comes in the wake of the collapse of the Saradha group, and protests by investors and agents of the group across the state.
“We have asked authorities of all chit fund entities operating in the district to refund money to investors as early as possible, failing which the district administration will take necessary action against them”, said Mr Mamud Hossain, saha-sabhadhipati of East Midnapore zilla-parishad.
The district body has identified 283 organisations functional under various
alibis, but actually engaged in mopping
up small and medium savings from investors.
"These companies or groups are registered under the Society Registration Act, and have raised funds from the public under the guise of varied businesses spanning real estate and tourism. They have collected more than Rs 2,000 crores from East Midnapore district alone," said Mr Hossain, adding that the zilla-parishad has sent the list of these companies to the state government for necessary action.
According to RBI norms, chit fund entities, classified as miscellaneous non-banking companies, can accept deposits from shareholders. But they are prohibited from accepting deposits from the public.
Many chit funds have started showing investors as shareholders of the company to bypass the rule, a zilla-parishad member said.
The chit fund business in the district drew the attention of the administration after Mr Subhabrata Das lodged a complaint with the Khejuri police station in East Midnapore on 27 July last year, alleging that Mr Swadesh Maity and Mr Sutanu Maity, residents of Adampur village in Khejuri, had approached him as employees of Travel Ventures International (TVI) Express, an international networking company, and advised him to invest in their firm. They had assured the complainant high returns on his investment.
“Accordingly, I invested Rs 15,500 and became a sponsor of the company. As per instructions, I roped in many others, who also invested the same amount, expecting high returns. But, after a few months, when I didn’t get subsidiary returns, I learnt that no money was deposited in our name in the company’s account,” Mr Das alleged.
In his complaint, he also stated that 27,648 persons from East Midnapore had invested money in the scheme, but none of them had received returns. According to some estimates, TVI Express collected Rs 45 crore from the district alone.
Meanwhile, hundreds of agents and investors gheraoed offices of Saradha, Rose Valley and Alchemist Groups for the third day today, demanding the refund their investments.
A 27-year-old youth, identified as Dipu Das of Benapur of Contai-III block and an agent of Saradha group, attempted to commit suicide by consuming poison today. People spotted him lying unconscious along the railway tracks of Contai station and admitted him to the Contai sub-divisional hospital.
His condition was said to be serious. His relatives said that he had been demoralised since the fracas over the Saradha group came to the fore; he had reportedly collected Rs 1 crore from small investors.

VU installs electronic surveillance system

15 April 2013

initiative to enhance security for girl students
biswabrata goswami
MIDNAPORE, 15 APRIL: Vidyasagar University has introduced electronic surveillance through closed-circuit cameras to strengthen security in its campus areas with an additional focus on better security for girl students.
During the first phase of the initiative, cameras have been installed in the visitors’ waiting lounges in front of the office chambers of the Vice-Chancellor and registrar a few days ago.
An “office circular” (now in possession of The Statesman) without bearing any memo number was issued earlier on 9 April by the secretary to the Vice-Chancellor to all academic and administrative heads of the departments. According to the circular “...as per an advice from the West Bengal State Council of Higher Education an Electronic Surveillance System is being installed in the lounge in front of the office of the Vice-Chancellor and in the office of the Registrar initially, as a pilot project”.
Gradually, all strategic areas of the university will come under the said electronic surveillance system in due course, the order reads.
Explaining that the security systems will be upgraded in phases, an official said: “In the first phase, the cameras will be installed in places identified as 'strategic areas', like the entrance of the departmental areas and the science laboratories where students often work late hours.”
“The varsity also plans to go for e-surveillance where, in the next phase of upgrade of security systems, cameras will be placed on top of some key buildings on the campus. These will provide a wider view of the university's premises,” the official said.
Interestingly, neither the Trinamul Congress-controlled West Bengal College and University Professors’ Association (WBCUPA) nor the Left-affiliated West Bengal College and University Teachers’ Association (WBCUTA) protested the installation of electronic surveillance system in the varsity. No student or non-teaching staff association affiliated to the Trinamul Congress or the Left parties protested the move either.
A lone voice of protest, however, was heard only from the department of anthropology in which the teachers unanimously condemned the installation of surveillance system at the varsity and expressed their “worries” about the installation of CCTVs in the academic departments in a meeting of the departmental committee held two days ago.
Mr Kaushik Bose, a PhD from Cambridge University and a post-doctoral fellow at London University, and the head of department of anthropology at VU said: “The installation of electronic surveillance systems which are used to detect criminals is unthinkable in any university.”
Mr Bose has already sent a resolution adopted at the meeting to the Vice-Chancellor requesting him to revoke this move by the university authorities.