THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : Finance Minister Thomas Isaac on Monday flayed the Opposition for levelling baseless allegations against the Pravasi Chitty scheme. “The Opposition leader’s (Ramesh Chennithala) statement, made without proper understanding of the scheme, will make non-resident Keralites apprehensive,” he said.“The Pravasi Chitty scheme is being rolled out as per prevailing norms as is the case with any other chitty scheme of the Kerala State Financial Enterprises. All sanctions have been obtained. The ‘concerns’ raised by Chennithala and former Finance Minister K M Mani are baseless,” Isaac said.
He said the Opposition claimed bank guarantee was necessary for chitty security. “However, bank guarantee is just one of the three securities that can be used for a chitty. Government security or a security recognised by the Indian Trusts Act are the other two. The security for Pravasi Chitty made available through the KIIFB is based on the provisions of the Indian Trusts Act,” he said. Elaborating on it, he said, “As per Section 14 (1) (c) and 20 (1) (c) of the Chit Fund Act, chitty amount can be deposited in recognised securities.
The governments provide guarantee to the capital and interest for recognised securities as per Section 20 of Indian Trusts Act. Depositing chitty amount in KIIFB bonds is 100 pc legal.”During Mani’s tenure as FM, an amendment was made to deposit chitty security in the government treasury. This order is in effect even now, said Isaac, adding since the government gave 100 per cent guarantee for KIIFB bonds, there was no need for a special order to deposit the security amount of Pravasi Chitty in KIIFB.
K M Mani wants Assembly debate on Pravasi Chitty
T’Puram: Former Finance Minister KM Mani MLA has urged the government to convene a special session of the Assembly to discuss the Pravasi Chitty. Mani alleged that Finance Minister Thomas Isaac had not ever tried to discuss the scheme in the Assembly. “If a special legislation was made in time the current apprehensions would not have evolved,” he said.
Mani denied Isaac’s comment that the former had amended the law to include treasuries in the definition of recognised banks. “I had sent such a request to the RBI headquarters. In the letter I had stated that status quo would be maintained until further direction by the RBI. But the apex bank did not reply,” Mani said. According to Mani, the RBI had issued certain relaxations on 15 March for the Pravasi Chitty. “But the minister said that the government issued an order sanctioning the Pravasi Chitty on January 24,” he said. Mani cited several rule violations in the present scheme for the Pravasi Chitty.