Microfinance employees, investors stage dharna in Odisha capital

Reported by Santosh Jagdev
Bhubaneswar, Dec 12:

Employees and investors of Microfinance Ltd, a chit fund company, today staged a dharna in front of the Raj Bhawan in the Odisha’s capital demanding return of their money.

Hundreds of investors and employees from Odisha and the neighbouring Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh of the chit fund company, under the banner of Micro Finance Ltd Karmachari and Upabhokta Forum, Bhubaneswar, took out a rally from Unit-VIII DAV Public School Square to Raj Bhawan Square where they staged a demonstration and urged the Odisha Governor seeking his early intervention in the matter.

Later, a delegation of the Forum met Governor Dr SC Jamir and submitted a memorandum.

“When we urged the company to return the investors’ money, the latter told us that they cannot pay as the company accounts have been seized by the state Crime Branch, which has handed them over to the CBI,” said Forum coordinator Bhaktabandhu Mishra.

“We welcome the CBI probe into the chit fund scam in the Microfinance Ltd. But the state government has to make sincere efforts to return the money to the hapless investors whose plight has been miserable from the day the company stopped paying premium amount of the deposits after the raids by the Crime Branch and the CBI officials. If the government really wants to return the money, it should come out with an open announcement,” he added.

Mishra also warned that the Forum will continue its agitation till the state government comes out with a concrete plan to return the depositors’ money.

However, an employee of the company said the company is unable to return the investors’ money due to the CBI probe.

“But the investors are in no mood to realise this,” he added.