A group of people under the aegis of Brahmagiri Victims Action Committee, a platform for depositors of the now defunct Brahmagiri Development Society (BDS) in Wayanad, is preparing to launch an indefinite agitation raising a slew of demands, including payment of their deposits.
Addressing the media here on Thursday, Abhilash Mathew, president, and M.R. Mangalan, secretary of the organisation, said close to 600 depositors, including farmers, retired hands, Kudumbashree units, and even daily wage workers had invested their hard-earned money in BDS.
But the CPI(M)-controlled agrarian cooperative entity had plunged into a financial abyss owing to mismanagement, putting more than 600 depositors and hundreds of other stakeholders in a fix, Mr. Mathew said.
Many depositors invested ₹1 lakh to ₹1 crore after the functionaries offered 9% to 10.5% interest. Though the society had paid the monthly interest till July-end, it was stopped abruptly, and the depositors could not withdraw money to meet emergency needs, Mr. Mangalan said.
Though the depositors complained to BDS directors, the district committee of the CPI(M), district administration, and the State government, the issue was yet to be sorted out, he added.
The depositors would take out a march on November 21 to the office of the BDS at Pathiripplam near Meenangadi. If the society failed to repay their deposits, the organisation would intensify the agitation, he added.
However, BDS chairman P.K. Suresh said the society was in a crisis after the Malabar Meat, a major subsidiary of the society, turned non-operational owing to various reasons, including dearth of working capital.
Published - November 16, 2023 08:13 pm IST
