Bill on ponzi schemes introduced in Lok Sabha

Agencies

February 12, 2019

New Delhi, Feb 12: A bill seeking to protect gullible investors from ponzi schemes was introduced in Lok Sabha Tuesday by Finance Minister Piyush Goyal.

The House will take up the Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Bill for discussion and passage on Wednesday.

Members from the treasury benches and the opposition suggested to Speaker Sumitra Mahajan that the Question Hour may be suspended Wednesday, the last day of the Budget Session, to take up the bill so that it can be sent to Rajya Sabha for passage after the Lok Sabha approves it.

Goyal said the bill will plug the loopholes which allow ponzi schemes to target small investors.

The bill seeks to put in place a mechanism by which such depositors can be compensated. It has incorporated recommendations of the Standing Committee on Finance.

The bill will effectively tackle the menace of illicit deposit-taking activities, and prevent such schemes from duping the poor and gullible people of their hard earned savings, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had said last week after the Cabinet had approved it.

The bill was initially introduced in Parliament on July 18, 2018 and was referred to the Standing Committee on Finance.

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Over 58 lakh names dropped from draft voter list in Bengal ahead of polls

News Network

December 16,2025

The deletion of over 58 lakh names from West Bengal’s draft electoral rolls following a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) has sparked widespread concern and is likely to deepen political tensions in the poll-bound state.

According to the Election Commission, the revision exercise has identified 24 lakh voters as deceased, 19 lakh as relocated, 12 lakh as missing, and 1.3 lakh as duplicate entries. The draft list, published after the completion of the first phase of SIR, aims to remove errors and duplication from the electoral rolls.

However, the scale of deletions has raised fears that a large number of eligible voters may have been wrongly excluded. The Election Commission has said that individuals whose names are missing can file objections and seek corrections. The final voter list is scheduled to be published in February next year, after which the Assembly election announcement is expected. Notably, the last Special Intensive Revision in Bengal was conducted in 2002.

The development has intensified the political row over the SIR process. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her Trinamool Congress have strongly opposed the exercise, accusing the Centre and the Election Commission of attempting to disenfranchise lakhs of voters ahead of the elections.

Addressing a rally in Krishnanagar earlier this month, Banerjee urged people to protest if their names were removed from the voter list, alleging intimidation during elections and warning of serious consequences if voting rights were taken away.

The BJP, meanwhile, has defended the revision and accused the Trinamool Congress of politicising the issue to protect what it claims is an illegal voter base. Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari alleged that the ruling party fears losing power due to the removal of deceased, fake, and illegal voters.

The controversy comes amid earlier allegations by the Trinamool Congress that excessive work pressure during the SIR led to the deaths by suicide of some Booth Level Officers (BLOs), for which the party blamed the Election Commission. With the draft list now out, another round of political confrontation appears imminent.

As objections begin to be filed, the focus will be on whether the correction mechanism is accessible, transparent, and timely—critical factors in ensuring that no eligible voter is denied their democratic right ahead of a crucial election.

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