Agents and Depositors Take out 'Chaitanya Yatra' Demanding Immediate Compensation

Thousands of victim depositors of Agri Gold Group are taking part in a ‘Chaitanya Yatra’, called by the Agri Gold Customers and Agents Association and the Andhra Pradesh Committee. The Yatra (Rally) flagged off on August 16 in Icchapuram, Srikakulam and will cover all districts of Andhra Pradesh. It is scheduled to end with a public meeting in Anantapur on September 13. The depositors are demanding immediate implementation of the promises made by the government to the victims of Agri Gold.

Agri Gold Company owes Rs 6,380 crores to over 32 lakh depositors in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Odisha and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. In the state of Andhra Pradesh alone, there are 19.52 lakh depositors who had deposited more than Rs 4,000 crores in the company.

Chief Minister N Chandra Babu Naidu had announced in the Assembly on March 2017 that the government would pay an exgratia of five lakh rupees each, to the families of those victim depositors, who had committed suicide after losing their money. This announcement came after Agri Gold Customers and Agents Association members went on an indefinite hunger strike. He ensured the repayment of deposits, by auctioning the assets of the company.

On the fifth day of the Yatra, Communist Party of India (CPI) Andhra Pradesh State Council assistant secretary and Agri Gold Customers and Agents Association’s Honorary President, Muppala Nageshwar Rao, addressed a public meeting in Vishakapatnam. He said that “ the main purpose of this Yatra is to pressurize the government to speed up the repayment process and give hope to the victim depositors. Already 143 victims have lost their lives either by committing suicide or due to heart attacks. Most of their families earn their livelihood by working in small-scale informal sectors”.

“More than 8 lakh agents of the Agri Gold Group have been left with no work since the scam broke in 2014. The government must gear up the auctioning process of the Groups assets and solve the grievances of the agents and depositors,” said D.N. Rao, an agent who took part in the rally.

he Agri Gold Customers and Agents Association has played a key role in unionising the victim depositors and agents by organizing a series of protests after the outbreak of the scam.

The Agri Gold management was established in the year 1995 with Avvas Venkata Rama Rao as its chairman in Vijayawada. In 2007, the group publicly announced in a huge fashion, about their collective investment scheme. It stated, that if a person deposits Rs. 25,000 in their firm, he/she will get double the amount in six years or a residential plot in lieu of it. The massive scam came to light in 2014, when the cheques issued to one of the depositors, were dishonoured by banks due to insufficient funds.

In 2016, the Andhra Pradesh government attached more than 22,000 acres of the company’s land, after its Crime Investigation Department (CID) confirmed the scam.

Communist Party of India Marxist (CPI[M]) have also extended their support to the rally. In a press statement, State Secretary P Madhu said, that the Chief Minister must take immediate measures to solve the issue. In the span of last four months, 35 more victims have lost their lives by committing suicides in distress.

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