ONGOLE: Members of the AgriGold Customers and Agents’ Welfare Association on Wednesday urged the State government to provide succour to the families of AgriGold victims before they take the extreme step.
Addressing a roundtable here, its honorary president and CPI State assistant secretary Muppalla Nageswara Rao said that 98 victims had ended their lives so far.
The State government should take swift steps to attach the assets of AgriGold subsidiary companies and arrest their chairmen and other directors who were at large.
It was unfortunate that the government remained indifferent to the plight of over 13 lakh small depositors who could be paid first by arranging about Rs.1,000 crore on priority basis, said YSR Congress State unit official spokesman Bathula Brahmananda Reddy.
Taking a cue from the ‘Occupy Wall Street’, a protest against securities fraud in the U.S., the AgriGold victims should gear up for a strident protest to press for their three demands, including settlement of dues of 32 lakh depositors from eight States to the tune of Rs.7,600 crore, said CPI(M) leader Pintyala Hanumantha Rao.
BJP Prakasam district president P.V. Krishna Reddy, CPI district secretary K. Aruna, YSRC city unit president Kuppam Prasad, and Congress city president Sripathi Prakasam were among those who expressed solidarity with the victims and vowed to stand by them till they were rendered justice.