dna edit: Greed draws people to chit
But Didi cannot escape the truth that the cheats operated with TMC's patronage.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee must be held accountable for the unrest in the state over Saradha group’s ponzi scheme. It has duped lakhs of investors. Sudipto Sen, the mastermind, couldn’t have run such a thriving racket without the ruling Trinamool Congress’ patronage. One of its MPs was on Sen’s payroll, running the group’s media empire. If the Sebi hadn’t cracked the whip on Sen, Saradha and other chit fund companies in Bengal would have continued to expand their racket by promising fantastic financial returns. It has been said that Saradha’s empire stretched from Assam to Maharashtra.Having said that, the victims should not expect Banerjee to bail them out in this hour of crisis. Sen, and those like him, have merely exploited the middle class’ greed, which is so blind that it refuses to see common sense. How can a company promise the moon to investors when private banks, government-run institutions as well as the post office cannot offer more than 10 per cent returns on deposits?Ponzi schemes aren’t new to India. There was Speak Asia. MMM India, another group, recently promised ‘100% returns per month to prospective investors.’ One would expect Bengalis especially to shy away from such offers. Many of them burnt their fingers in the Sanchayita scam in the Eighties during the Left Front rule. But, why work hard and earn a little less when there is easy money calling, seems to be the response of gullible souls across India.It is unlikely that Sen, who has been arrested in J&K along with his key associates, will cough up the money he owes his investors. By some estimates, it runs into Rs30,000 crore. Even if he does, it will not signal the end of these fly-by-night operators, unless people refuse to entertain their fantastic schemes. After a few years, a new Sen will emerge on the horizon. Public memory is short. So people will again queue up for a windfall, and lose whatever little they had saved. Yes, greed is not good. But it’s worse not to learn from past mistakes.