Cong. flays Centre on UTI bunlging

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, AUG. 6.

Accusing the BJP-led Government at Centre of politicising financial institutions and ruining the lives of millions of poor and middle class investors, the AICC(I) general secretary, Mr. Kamal Nath, today demanded the resignation of the Union Finance Minister, Mr. Yashwant Sinha, and a thorough probe into the UTI scam, including the role of the officials in the Prime Ministers Office (PMO).

Mr. Nath, who is also the general secretary incharge Delhi, was addressing a huge gathering of UTI investors and party workers, organised by the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee(I) at the Jantar Mantar here to demand the resignation of Mr. Sinha. The demonstration was attended by all the Ministers of the Sheila Dikshit Government, a large number of party MLAs, Councillors and AICC(I) leaders. The DPCC(I) also presented a memorandum to the Prime Minister in this regard.

Mr. Nath charged the Finance Minister with failure to monitor properly the investments of the UTI-64 Scheme which was the flagship scheme of the Trust. He said the Finance Minister has not only indulged in total mismanagement of his Ministry but has also has been instrumental in influencing decisions regarding the investment portfolio of the Unit 64 Scheme. The Scheme was one of the most successful ventures and it seemed there was a deep rooted conspiracy behind the whole scam which has affected more than two crore investors who had parked their savings in this particular scheme.

The NDA Government has indulged in total breach of trust of the poor investors. Preliminary indications are that money was squandered away in companies which were promoted by the RSS-BJP political bigwigs. He also sought a probe into the role of certain bureaucrats in the PMO and the Finance Ministry who had influenced the decision to make such hasty and illogical investments.

The DPCC(I) president, Mr. Subhash Chopra, who spearheaded the agitation, said there was not a single household which had not invested in the Unit 64 Scheme, which was considered the most safe proposition. But these crores of people had been ditched by the unimaginative and impractical decisions of the Finance Ministry and the PMO, who recklessly played with the savings of these investors. He said the role of PMO had also come under scrutiny in the whole scam and said Mr. Sinha had no moral right to remain in office.

A number of senior AICC(I) leaders including Mr. Oscar Fernandes, Mr. Balram Jhakhar and Mr. Mukul Wasnik, deplored the indifferent attitude of the NDA Government and demanded a independent probe.

In the memorandum submitted to the Prime Minister, the DPCC(I) deplored the attempts by the Finance Minister to shift the blame to the previous governments and said it is clear that Mr. Sinha was in complete know of what was going on in the UTI, but preferred to turn a blind eye. The reported involvement of the senior officials, including those of the PMO, had eroded the credibility of the Vajpayee Government and had raised serious doubts about its efficiency.

``The DPCC(I) strongly condemns the lack of transparency and abuse of political power and is of the firm opinion that the Finance Minister at the Centre should own up moral responsibility for this breach of trust and resign,'' the memorandum added.

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