With thousands of duped investors taking to streets across the State and under intense pressure from the Opposition for her parties’ alleged role in the chit-fund gate, Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday hit back transferring the responsibility of the multi-crore scam on the Centre and the Left Front.
“Such shady funds and money laundering” were monitored by Delhi and the State Government was absolutely toothless in absence of appropriate laws to regulate them,” she said, announcing the formation of a four-member high-power commission to investigate into the alleged Rs 22,000 crore scam which has brought several lakh investors on the verge of ruin.
Alleging that “those who patronised the chit-funds are today shifting the blame on our head” Banerjee said, “It is the Centre that gives them licence and controls the chit-funds and money laundering through its organs like RBI and SEBI.”
Visibly anguished by its political fallout particularly after some visible faces of the Trinamool Congress including Ministers and MPs got sucked into the vortex of the “super-scam” the Chief Minister said “none of these funds are registered with the State Government. They are all registered with the Centre.”
Bengal was on the boil for the past a few days after the Shardha Group the owner of the chit-fund business defaulted in payment. Anti-Government protests began after Shardha chief Sudipto Sen known for his close proximity to many a bigwig of the Government went missing.
“An amount Rs 70,000 or even more could be involved in the scam,” Banerjee said, adding much of the stolen money could have been siphoned out of the country. “Had the Centre or the previous Left Front Government taken action earlier then the situation could have been avoided. Now they are blaming our two-year-old Government,” she complained informing, “We acted soon after getting information from the CBI on April 15.”
Banerjee said she had asked the Centre to return a previous “faulty Bill” prepared by the Left lying with it for Presidential assent “following which we will go for an ordinance so that we can take immediate action on the matter.”
Ignoring questions as to why her Government did not heed the letters from her own party MP Somen Mitra or advisories sent by Union Minister Sachin Pilot, on the issue the Chief Minister said it was Delhi that was mainly responsible for small saving finding its way into the hands of shady operators.
“The Centre’s faulty policy of continuously reducing the interests on small savings is leading the people and the agents to make a beeline for the chit-funds,” she said.
On the reported association of a journalist-turned-Trinamool MP with a media division owned by the Group Banerjee said it was not possible for a journalist who was a mere employee to know the dark underbelly of the owners adding quickly “still if anyone has done something wrong then law will take its own course.”
Congress leader Abdul Mannan, however, wondered, “How a bare journalist-turned-CEO of the media division could draw a salary of Rs 16 lakh per month in a regional and new media.”
On why the Chief Minister inaugurated a host of newspapers belonging to the Group and even asked the people to read the stated papers, Banerjee said, “Anyone can inaugurate a newspaper if invited. So what is wrong in it?” She also said that the Groups funding of several of her Government’s social welfare schemes particularly in jangalmahal was only an extension of the Government’s policy of public-private-partnership.
Meanwhile even as thousands of people blockaded national highways, gheraoed Trinamool offices, ransacked hundreds of offices of the Group the Opposition Left and the Congress targeted the Chief Minister saying her decision to bring ordinance was a ploy to allow the fraudsters time to flee.
“This is a ploy to bail out Sudipto Sen,” Biman Bose Left Front chairman said while Opposition Leader Suryakanto Mishra wondered what led the Shardha CMD to recently buy a painting of the Chief Minister for Rs 1.86 crore. “Is she a Picasso that her painting will sell for so much price?” he asked questioning the reason why Sen had bought the paintings and “what benefits she drew after buying it?”
Courtesy:
Tuesday, 23 April 2013 | Saugar Sengupta | Kolkata
http://www.dailypioneer.com/nation/mamata-blames-cong-lf-for-chit-fund-scam.html
“Such shady funds and money laundering” were monitored by Delhi and the State Government was absolutely toothless in absence of appropriate laws to regulate them,” she said, announcing the formation of a four-member high-power commission to investigate into the alleged Rs 22,000 crore scam which has brought several lakh investors on the verge of ruin.
Alleging that “those who patronised the chit-funds are today shifting the blame on our head” Banerjee said, “It is the Centre that gives them licence and controls the chit-funds and money laundering through its organs like RBI and SEBI.”
Visibly anguished by its political fallout particularly after some visible faces of the Trinamool Congress including Ministers and MPs got sucked into the vortex of the “super-scam” the Chief Minister said “none of these funds are registered with the State Government. They are all registered with the Centre.”
Bengal was on the boil for the past a few days after the Shardha Group the owner of the chit-fund business defaulted in payment. Anti-Government protests began after Shardha chief Sudipto Sen known for his close proximity to many a bigwig of the Government went missing.
“An amount Rs 70,000 or even more could be involved in the scam,” Banerjee said, adding much of the stolen money could have been siphoned out of the country. “Had the Centre or the previous Left Front Government taken action earlier then the situation could have been avoided. Now they are blaming our two-year-old Government,” she complained informing, “We acted soon after getting information from the CBI on April 15.”
Banerjee said she had asked the Centre to return a previous “faulty Bill” prepared by the Left lying with it for Presidential assent “following which we will go for an ordinance so that we can take immediate action on the matter.”
Ignoring questions as to why her Government did not heed the letters from her own party MP Somen Mitra or advisories sent by Union Minister Sachin Pilot, on the issue the Chief Minister said it was Delhi that was mainly responsible for small saving finding its way into the hands of shady operators.
“The Centre’s faulty policy of continuously reducing the interests on small savings is leading the people and the agents to make a beeline for the chit-funds,” she said.
On the reported association of a journalist-turned-Trinamool MP with a media division owned by the Group Banerjee said it was not possible for a journalist who was a mere employee to know the dark underbelly of the owners adding quickly “still if anyone has done something wrong then law will take its own course.”
Congress leader Abdul Mannan, however, wondered, “How a bare journalist-turned-CEO of the media division could draw a salary of Rs 16 lakh per month in a regional and new media.”
On why the Chief Minister inaugurated a host of newspapers belonging to the Group and even asked the people to read the stated papers, Banerjee said, “Anyone can inaugurate a newspaper if invited. So what is wrong in it?” She also said that the Groups funding of several of her Government’s social welfare schemes particularly in jangalmahal was only an extension of the Government’s policy of public-private-partnership.
Meanwhile even as thousands of people blockaded national highways, gheraoed Trinamool offices, ransacked hundreds of offices of the Group the Opposition Left and the Congress targeted the Chief Minister saying her decision to bring ordinance was a ploy to allow the fraudsters time to flee.
“This is a ploy to bail out Sudipto Sen,” Biman Bose Left Front chairman said while Opposition Leader Suryakanto Mishra wondered what led the Shardha CMD to recently buy a painting of the Chief Minister for Rs 1.86 crore. “Is she a Picasso that her painting will sell for so much price?” he asked questioning the reason why Sen had bought the paintings and “what benefits she drew after buying it?”
Courtesy:
Tuesday, 23 April 2013 | Saugar Sengupta | Kolkata
http://www.dailypioneer.com/nation/mamata-blames-cong-lf-for-chit-fund-scam.html
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