Save the savers

A brilliant economic scheme – Sahakari or a sort of bank-like-cooperative – meant for the small savers has been misused in Nepal over the years. Although efforts are made from time to time to check the cheating behind it, nothing substantial has emerged for providing relief or compensation to the depositors who have lost nearly Rs. 49 billion because of fraudulent practices of some cooperatives. A parliamentary committee recently studied the problem and presented a report to the House of Representatives. People hope it will result in a practical action which will ultimately make a difference in offering some sort of comfort for the depositors and due punishment for the wrong doers. Some operators – 1540 in officially confirmed number- of Sahakari collected huge amount of money – all saved in small amount by small savers – and ran away with the arm of law or administration not being able to reach them to make them accountable. Others – 669 -are in custody and their cases are sub-judice. Sahakari victims have lost a lot and some of them have been left with no resources for sustaining living. The initiative for Sahakari, taken with a firm and charitable mission for the poor depositors, soon expanded as people (7.3 million members) found it more profitable for saving in Sahakari than in the banks. Operators of Sahakari with fraudulent mind-set saw in the huge deposit of Sahakari a chance for cheating and misused it forgetting the original objective of cooperative. Regulators failed to detect it in time and were slow in action when they were supposed to act swiftly and smartly. As a result Sahakari-misuse-spree grew and operators made a huge amount of capital out of the fraudulent process. Today all know the problem and its roots. Yet concrete action to rescue small saver’s hard earned money has not been taken. Policy makers and economy-administrators should take the case of fraudulent Sahakari operators seriously and not allow future economic scheme to be victimized by fraudulent efforts. In the saving space of economy, there should always be a room for small savers or investors. Taking care of their interest would ultimately benefit the whole economy; it will also be in the national interest for it contributes to decreasing poverty level and offering opportunities for the have-nots. Saving the savers after all could play as an inspirational factor for investors and producers of the economy. The parliamentary-step in this regard should prove to be a savior-like response to the problems facing the Sahakari victims.