Tinsukia: Women members of four self-help groups (SHGs) in Assam’s Tinsukia district have accused the president of their village organization (VO) of misappropriating public funds.
The women, belonging to the Surjyamukhi, Hewali, Mismeri, and Heouji SHGs, allege that Purnima VO president Junmoni Borah has not deposited their loan repayments totalling Rs 4 lakh and around Rs 1.44 of interest to the Cluster Level Federation (CLF) for the past 10 months.
They claim to have been repaying their loans diligently but the money has not reached the designated authorities.
During an emergency meeting held on Sunday, the aggrieved women demanded immediate deposit of their outstanding dues and accumulated interest. They questioned why the collected amount wasn’t deposited on time and how the president utilized the public funds.
The Block Project Manager (BPM) of Hapjan, Rimpi Moran, acknowledged being aware of the issue but stated that no formal complaint had been received yet. She said she had informed the VO president about the situation and urged her to take necessary action.
Junmoni Borah, in a phone conversation with the women’s group during the meeting, admitted to withholding the deposited money due to personal reasons. However, she assured them that she would issue cheques soon.
She also called for a meeting on July 12th with mandatory attendance from all SHG members.
Sources from the village informed that Borah has begun issuing cheques to repay the allegedly misappropriated funds after the matter came to light.
The funds were intended for rural livelihood schemes and platforms for self-sufficiency for the women’s SHGs.