AGARTALA, Dec 20 - With illegal chit fund organisations and non-banking financial institutions (NBFCs) tamed in Tripura, deposits in small savings rose by 150 per cent in four years in the State, a Minister said here on Tuesday.
�Following a series of steps to rein in rogue chit fund organisations and NBFCs, deposits in various small savings schemes rose by 150 per cent in four years in Tripura,� State Finance and Information Minister Bhanulal Saha told IANS.
He said: �During 2011-12, gross deposits in small savings schemes were Rs 548 crore and in the last financial year (2015-16), the deposits rose to Rs 1,370 crore. In the current fiscal (2016-17) up to August, gross deposits were Rs 929 crore and they might cross Rs 2,000 crore at the end of the financial year.
�If the Central government had not reduced the interest rate in various small savings schemes, the deposits would be much higher,� Saha opined.
A top official of the Tripura Institutional Finance Department said there would have been more deposits in the small savings schemes had the post offices not lacked infrastructure and manpower.
Saha said Tripura would allow chit fund organisations and NBFCs to operate only if they were registered and recognised.
To further tighten the noose on illegal financial organisations, the Protection of Interest of Depositors (Financial Establishment) Second Amendment Bill was presented in the winter session of the Tripura Assembly. However, it was withdrawn on Monday due to some loopholes pointed out by the opposition members.
Chief Minister Manik Sarkar told the House on Monday: �We are withdrawing the Bill to plug all loopholes in it. It would be presented in the Assembly again to tighten the existing Act against the illegal chit fund organisations and unauthorised NBFCs.� � IANS