RAJ KUMAR
Ranchi, Dec 22: Jharkhand government on Thursday expressed its commitment to help those who did not get the returns on their investment in different firms associated with Sahara India.
State Agriculture Minister Badal Patralekh while speaking in the Assembly expressed the commitment saying that the state government has limited loans in recovery, however, it will give moral support to the investors to get back their due return.
Earlier, the minister made the house aware of the correspondence the state government had done for the recovery of the money and informed about the legal steps taken by the Supreme Court of India. He also shared the limits of the state government in the matter saying the matter is being regulated by SEBI, IRDA and the central registrar.
The reply came after AJSU MLA Lambodar Mahto raised the matter saying there are as many as 18,500 investors from his Gomia constituency who invested Rs 274 crore in Sahara India. He was requesting the government to make a special committee for the assembly to help investors get back their hard-earned money.
Mahto was of the opinion that the government should have proper data of the investors and the amount they have deposited under different schemes. He said that Sahara India chairman Subrato Roy should be called before that committee.
Mahto expressed his concern over the issue saying Sahara India collected Rs 24,000 crore from approximately 3 crore investors across the country but the Jharkhand government is now aware of how many investors are from the state. He alleged the government of washing its hands from the issue just by declaring a helpline number and doing some correspondence.
Sahara India, which started working in 1978, landed in controversy in 2004 and since then investors are suffering. According to information furnished by Mahto in the assembly, Sahara India has returned only Rs 5,120 crore. According to minister Patralekh, after an initiative taken by the Supreme Court Rs 15,000 crore has been recovered and now a guideline is awaited to return the amount to investors.
