BJP targets Odisha government after Centre launches Sahara Refund portal

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)on Tuesday targeted the Odisha government for allegedly not refunding the money to the victims of the chit fund scam.

The attack came after the Centre launched a portal to facilitate the refund to Sahara investors. The BJP asked while the Centre did its part to refund money, when is the State government going to do the same?

Addressing a press conference, Odisha BJP spokesperson, Anil Biswal said, “Where did the Rs 300 crore corpus go? From 2013 till 2023, it has been 10 years, but the Odisha government is yet to refund money of the 20 lakh chit fund scam investors. Victims from the lower income group and middle class have not received a penny from the State government.”

“It is high time the Odisha government learns from the Centre,” he added.

No response has been received from the State government or the ruling BJD.

Union Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday launched 'CRCS-Sahara Refund Portal', aimed at the refund of the hard-earned money of crores of depositors in four cooperative societies of Sahara Group in about 45 days.

Shah assured the depositors that no one can stop their money now and that they will get the refund in 45 days after registering on the portal.

To begin with, he said, depositors would get up to Rs 10,000 refund and subsequently, the amount would be enhanced for those who have invested higher amounts.

The corpus of Rs 5,000 crore would be able to take care of the needs of 1.7 crore depositors in the first phase, he said.