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.

Traders give cops a hair-raising time!

10 January 2013

biswabrata goswami
TAMLUK, 10 JAN: Angry traders gave East Midnpore police a hair- raising time for failing to trace a truck ferrying Rs 4 crore of processed human hair that was hijacked on its way from way from Chandipur to Nimtouri two days back.
Hundreds of traders in human hair, who painstakingly collect women's locks from villages and sell these to exporters, today vandalised Chandipur police station in East Midnapore.
The incident occurred following an altercation with the police over the failure to trace the hair-laden Nimtouri bound vehicle. As the police have not recovered the lorry yet, nor made any arrests, the infuriated hair dealers  vandalised the Chandipur police station in East Midnapore.
Hours before they vented their fury on the police station, they set up a road block on the Digha- Nandakumar state highway at Chandipur for over an hour but relented after the police invited them to the police station to hear them out. . “The police  were sitting on the  matter. When we realized this, some of us attacked the police station and damaged some chairs and tables”, a protestor said. Police officials, however, denied any inaction and said, “We are trying our best to recover the hijacked lorry, but have no leads yet”.
According to a hair trader, hair collected from different villages and towns across the state is sent to Andhra’s West Godavari district, where the small town of Eluru is the hub of India’s hair export trade. Chandipur is one of the main hair collection centres in West Bengal and these hair-laden vehicles   then head to Andhra Pradesh.  Hair processing units, where each worker cleans, grades, and packs around 300-400 gm daily, then ensure that shipments meet the specifications of large importers in China. China is India's top customer for human hair, said Pratap Jana, a hair trader in Chandipur.
As village women don’t dye, bleach and streak their hair - at least for now,  even their comb remnants fetch a far higher price in world markets than average temple hair, which is usually shorter than 16 inches.
“In fact, Tirupati and all the temples together contribute only 20 out of every 100 locks of premium hair sold. The rest are patiently procured from village women, who are quite happy to exchange hair headed for the dustbin with the fancy clips and baubles offered by the “hair collector” who comes with his bag once a week”, Mr Jana said.
Another trader said, “Rural hair sells for a premium because it is untouched by any chemicals and rarely more than two or three human hands. Not surprisingly then, comb waste sells for Rs 1,225 per kilogram.”
But even village belles are slowly losing their lustrous lengths. “Earlier we would get 40-inch long hair from villages. Now it is rarely more than 30 inches. But even so, it is longer than Tirupati first grade, which rarely crosses 26 inches,” said Amulya Dey, a hair collector.
“The procurement chain, from village to hair export units, is highly informal and nebulous. Even, many hair collectors themselves do not know who organises the collectors and ensures adequate volumes”, said a police officer.

TMC, CPM blame game continues

7 January 2013

biswabrata goswami
MIDNAPORE, 7 JAN: In a show of strength, the Trinamul Congress today held a public rally at Chandipur in East Midnapore where the former chief minister and CPI-M politburo leader Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had addressed a rally at the same venue two days ago.
Throwing a challenge to the CPI-M, the Trinamul Congress MP Subhendu Adhikari, who was instrumental in the people’s movement against the erstwhile CPI-M’s decision on setting up a chemical hub at Nandigram in 2007, said: “Let the CPI-M capture a single seat of panchayat in the forthcoming panchayat polls here if they can”. At the gathering, he said: “Not a single inch of land will be provided for the CPI-M in the ensuing panchayat polls. They (the CPI-M cadres) will try to enter into the villages, but you will have to keep a close vigil on them. You will have to remember that all the CPI-M leaders are nothing but poisonous snakes.”
Replying to Mr Bhattacharjee’s allegation that the Trinamul Congress government is taking the state towards disaster, Mr Adhikari said: “The CPI-M is worried about our government’s performance towards implication of various development works across the state. And so they are trying to malign our government by framing false charges.” Referring to the CPI-M activities during the Nandigram violence in East Midnapore and Netai massacre in West Midnapore, he demanded that the CPI-M be banned immediately.
Before the meeting, Mr Adhikari went to Nandigram early today at around 4.30 am and took out a rally with candle sticks to commemorate the three martyrs who were killed at Bhangabera during the Nandigram violence in 2007.
Later, he went to Netai village in Lalgarh in West Midnapore where nine people were killed and 29 persons received bullet injuries in a firing from the top of a CPI-M leader’s house on 7 January, 2011.
While paying homage to the nine villagers who were killed in the firing, Mr Adhikari demanded that CBI investigation into the Netai and Nandigram violence should be completed at the earliest. “It was one of the heinous crimes committed by the CPI-M. But the CBI investigation is going at very slow pace which is unexpected. We are demanding immediate arrest of Susanta Ghosh and Dipak Sarkar and a supplementary charge-sheet against these two CPI-M leaders should be submitted before the court by the CBI”, he said.
Mr Adhikari said the family members of the martyrs in Nandigram have not received justice yet. Though, the High Court has instructed the CBI to conduct a probe into the killings and disappearances of people during the Nandigram violence in 2007 but the CBI is reluctant to conduct a probe into this matter. “If the CBI fails to begin an investigation immediately, the family members of the martyrs will begin a sit-in before the CBI office in Kolkata,” he said.
Expressing shock over the Delhi gang-rape incident, he claimed that a more shocking incident of similar magnitude took place in Nandigram few years ago, while referring to the Tapasi Malik murder case.

Survey on out-of-school kids

1 January 2013

biswabrata goswami
TAMLUK, 1 JAN: The state government is all set to conduct a survey of all children living across the state to ascertain the number of children who are still out of school.
This child survey will be held on 13 January in every booth area of all districts under the supervision of the district project officer of Sarva Siksha Mission.
 “One of the conditions of the Right to Education (RTE) Act is to enroll each and every child in the neighbourhood school. So, the government is all set to conduct a survey of all children in the age group of 0 to 14 years ( up to 18 years for CWSN) of all families residing in any particular habitation”, said an official.
The child survey contains details of the child like age, sex, caste, disability status, migration status, disadvantage group, weaker section, guardian details, class-wise information, nature of institution, enrollment status and out of school children, the officer said.
As per the order, the enumerator will be all para-teachers, Siksha Bandhus and Special Educators. Supervisor of the booth-wise survey will be head of the institution who will co-operate with the Circle Project Co-ordinator for completion of the survey and compilation of the work.
According to the survey, it has been observed with concern that though the RTE Act is in place, underprivileged children are often being denied their rights. When conducted in 2007, the survey had found that 7.8 per cent children between six and 14 years of age were out of school which has declined to 4.6 per cent in 2010. However, the figure remains higher than the national average of 3.5 per cent in 2010.
The State has the fifth highest percentage of out-of-school children following Meghalaya (7.2 per cent), Rajasthan (5.8 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (5.2 per cent), and Assam (5 per cent). Neighbouring Bihar had a higher number of out-of-school children than West Bengal just a couple of years ago, but has now achieved parity with the national average, according to the survey.

State to conduct census for inland fisheries resources

31 December 2012

biswabrata goswami
MIDNAPORE, 31 DEC: The state government has started the process to conduct a census for inland fisheries resources across the state to collect information on the number of fishermen, their craft and gear, socio-economic profile, demographic features, behavioural parameters and other related facts.
Though, at the national level, no such census has been conducted yet for inland fisheries in any state in the country. this is the first time a state government has conducted such a census, said an official.
The state Fisheries Department has already circulated an order to respective fisheries officers of all districts asking them to take suitable steps so that the survey work could be executed in the right manner and completed within the stipulated time period of three months from January to March 2013.
According to the department, water body resource survey in the state was started during 2009-10 to prepare GIS map using RS technology, but due to its limitations it was not possible to cover all aspects of fisheries resources.
“In order to fill up the gap and to plot all resources ~ water bodies, fisherman family, household, market, hatchery, co-operatives, crafts and gears, fish-based industries, processing plants and ice plants ~ to make it more informative, a pilot project entitled “Complete Enumeration of Fisheries Resources” will be implemented in some selected blocks of all districts,” the joint director of the fisheries department said.
According to the plans, a contractual enumerator will be engaged from every gram panchayat with a fixed remuneration of Rs 4,000 per month for three months.
The enumerators would visit every fisherman's home in all concerned villages. They would note down the number of country boats, mechanised boats, traditional boats, fishing gear besides collecting information about the families according to the guidelines of the Fisheries Department. To conduct the census, the state government has allotted Rs 14. 97 lakh, said an official.
He said: “Fisheries is an important sector in the state. It provides employment to millions of people and contributes to food security. As no specific data on the inland fisheries resources is currently available, our government cannot chalk out development plans on this sector. After completion of this census, the state government can go through with the various development plans.”

Cold weather fails to dampen festive spirits

28 December 2012

biswabrata goswami
DIGHA, 28 DEC: The cold wave gripping the state has failed to dampen the spirit of thousands of tourists who arrived at the state’s sea resorts ~ Digha, Mandarmoni, Sankarpur and Tajpur ~ to celebrate the Christmas and the New Year.
This time, the number of domestic tourists has outnumbered their international counterparts. Despite pollution and exorbitant hotel rates, the flow of tourists is on the rise. The calm and serene environs are luring a lot of tourists to Mandarmoni, Tajpur and Shankarpur beaches, too.
Keeping in mind the promise made by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to convert Digha into Goa of the east, the government has introduced paragliding as part of the year-end festivities.
On the lines of Goa and other beach towns, paragliding has begun at the Digha beach. But it is the first of its kind in eastern India and third in the country after Delhi and Pune which runs on a motor.
While inaugurating the paragliding at New Digha beach on Wednesday, the state Tourism Minister, Mr Krishnendu Chowdhury, said: “The chief minister had dreamed about turning Digha into Goa. Many other things have to be done to fulfil the dream. This is just the beginning. Digha needs to be made affordable for everyone from the middle class to the high class”.
It would cost Rs 2,500 per head for a 15-minute ride, 18,000 ft above the sea level. The minister, however, lamented several work have been put on hold in the Digha-Mandarmoni tourist circuit due to objections raised by the Environment Department as it falls under the special economic zone.
This apart, the state government has launched a Rs 41 crore World Bank-aided project to build a storm water drainage network system in the coastal areas of Digha and its surroundings. The project, expected to be completed in the next two years, is part of the World Bank-aided Integrated Coastal Zone Management programme. “There are several plans that have been chalked out to spruce up the coastal regions of the state and make them popular on the lines of Goa. While the authorities had decided to set up a wooden pedestrian walkway at Shankarpur for tourists, plans are also afoot to introduce a hovercraft service,” said Soumen Pal, Executive Officer of Digha Sankarpur Development Authority.
In Digha the tourists inflow has increased from 8 lakh to 35 lakh in the past one year. “Compared to the past two years, this year, tourist inflow increased abnormally, especially after Miss Banerjee introduced direct rail services here,” said a hotel owner. With the rise in tourist flow, the pollution level has also risen. Digha, which was once called the “Brighton of the East”, has turned into a garbage dump, with plastic and litter everywhere. The famous casuarina forests off Digha coast has lost its charm. The sewage system here has been a problem for many years.