Mumbai, March 18 (IANS) Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Tuesday that the state government will establish a Financial Intelligence Unit to prevent depositors in cooperative societies and banks from falling prey to fraudulent schemes promising double the legally permitted interest rates.
This unit will track advertisements and schemes offering excessively high interest rates and take appropriate action to prevent depositors from being deceived, he added.
The Chief Minister in the Assembly replied to a query raised by the NCP legislator Prakash Solanke regarding irregularities in the Gyanradha Multi-State Cooperative Credit Society.
CM Fadnavis said that complaints about some multi-state cooperative credit societies defrauding depositors have been increasing.
The state government is committed to ensuring depositors’ funds remain secure by bringing such credit societies, banks, and chit-fund companies under stricter regulations, he added.
Additionally, to safeguard the deposits of small investors up to Rs 5 lakh in cooperative banks, the state will urge the Central government to either amend the existing cooperative banking laws or introduce a new law for better protection, CM Fadnavis said.
Referring to the Gyanradha Multi-State Cooperative Credit Society, the Chief Minister added that fraud involving Rs 1,121.47 crore has affected 20,802 depositors across 50 branches of the society in Maharashtra.
Despite repeated assurances from the bank’s chairman and directors, depositors have not received their money, he said.
The state government will recover the defrauded funds by auctioning the seized assets of the credit society, he added.
He also told the Assembly that 80 properties worth Rs 6,000 crore have been identified under the Maharashtra Protection of Depositors’ Interests Act. These properties will be auctioned to repay the depositors as quickly as possible, CM Fadnavis said.
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister told the Assembly that efforts are made to curb crime in Pune.
“Pune city has witnessed nine incidents where criminals wielding sickles have disrupted law and order. Nineteen accused have been arrested, of which 13 are juvenile offenders. However, there is no existence of any ‘Sickle Gang’ in Pune, but the involvement of 15 to 16-year-old minors in such crimes has been observed. To rehabilitate these juvenile offenders, the ‘Disha’ program has been introduced. The state government is making all possible efforts to curb crime in Pune,” CM Fadnavis said.
He added that the Disha program in Pune is aimed at rehabilitating juvenile offenders, and some minors have already been reformed through this initiative.
Due to the large jurisdiction of existing police stations, there were limitations in effectively controlling crime, he said.
Acknowledging this, the state government has approved the establishment of seven new police stations in Pune city, he added.
–IANS
sj/khz
