NEW DELHI: Union Minister Amit Shah initiated the reimbursement process for millions of depositors from four cooperatives of the Sahara Group, releasing the first tranche of Rs 10,000 each to 112 small investors on Friday, August 4.

Expressing optimism, Shah revealed that 18 lakh depositors have already registered on the 'CRCS-Sahara Refund Portal,' which was launched on July 18. He stated, "Today, about Rs 10,000 each has been successfully transferred to the bank accounts of 112 investors."

Assuring the depositors further, Shah emphasized that the next tranche of funds would be transferred shortly, as the audit process has been completed. He added, "I want to assure and I am fully confident that all depositors will receive their funds in the coming days."

Addressing the long-standing issue of delayed reimbursements, Shah pointed out that Sahara depositors had been waiting for 12-15 years due to management faults and prolonged court litigations.

Highlighting the efforts made by the Ministry of Cooperation, Shah shared that they had secured Rs 5,000 crore from the Sebi-Sahara Fund. To achieve this, the ministry united all relevant government bodies, including the CBI and Income Tax department, to present a collective appeal before the Supreme Court. The appeal focused on prioritizing small investors' rights over the funds.

"We must strengthen the trust in cooperatives to fortify the cooperative movement in the country," Shah asserted.

The government's commitment to reimburse 10 crore investors of the four cooperative societies within 9 months came after a Supreme Court order directed the transfer of Rs 5,000 crore from the Sahara-Sebi refund account to the Central Registrar of Cooperative Societies (CRCS).

To facilitate the reimbursement process, the CRCS-Sahara Refund Portal was developed by a subsidiary of IFCI. To register on the portal, depositors were required to link their Aadhaar with their mobile and bank accounts.

Common Services Centre offered assistance to depositors for online registration on the portal for a seamless refund process. The event witnessed the presence of Cooperation Secretary Gyanesh Kumar and a retired Supreme Court judge.

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