MARGAO
Beleaguered depositors of Visionaries Urban Cooperative Society on Friday took to the streets to protest the delay by the authorities in initiating action to give them back their hard-earned deposits.
As the depositors protested outside the office of the Assistant Registrar of Cooperative Societies at the Gomant Vidya Niketan, the police and magistrate descended on the spot with a request to hand over their charter of demands to the District Collector.
The depositors insisted that they will not move till Minister for Cooperation Govind Gaude personally meets them and explains the status of the various assurances.
The depositors later dispersed from the spot after they were told that Minister Gaude was presently out of station. They later handed over their demands to the office of the Collector, promising to return to find out about action initiated by the authorities.
They have also decided to wait for 15 days for the government to resolve all their issues or else go ahead with a huge meeting.
A depositor, Maria Vanda Gomes, who has been recently appointed as one of the administrators of the society, said DySP Kiran Podwal has also promised the depositors to take up the matter with the Economic Offences Cell to work out a solution.
Gomes told the media that the government has not honoured the promises handed out to the depositors in the past, saying that neither action has been initiated against a former Assistant Registrar of Societies nor the audit report is compiled by the Registrar’s office.
She pointed out that whenever the depositors raise any query over the return of their hard-earned money from the society, the officials keep saying the audit is not yet ready. “Depositors are committing suicides and there are others who are bed-ridden. The accused persons are all roaming scot-free,” she said.
Saying that the depositors had called on Minister Gaude around seven-eight times with their grievances, Gomes pointed out that not even the administration has been handed over to the new administrators.
The depositors made a plea to the Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, ministers and MLAs to take up their issue and give them relief by returning their deposits. A depositor from Fatorda Joseph Silva made a plea to the Chief Minister to intervene and resolve the issue.
Activist Felix Dias offered his support to the beleaguered depositors, even as he demanded that the government take the issue seriously.
