SALEM: A scam is unravelling in Tamil Nadu Sarvodaya Sangh (TNSS) with incentives meant for weavers being siphoned off, ostensibly by some insiders and touts, using fake bank accounts in the name of people who are not weavers.
According to the TNSS website, C Murugan, 40, from Manathal village near Amarakunthi in Salem district is a weaver. He turned out to be a coconut merchant when TOI met him in his village. Murugan said he didn’t know he had an account at Karur Vysya Bank till an activist alerted him. R Jagannathan, 39, a tractor driver, and Kalaiarasan from Olaipatty Kattu Valavu village in Salem didn’t know they had accounts to which money was coming from TNSS and someone was withdrawing it. People who unwittingly ended up as ‘fake beneficiaries’ of the scheme told TOI that they gave their Aadhaar cards to some people who offered to get them jobs and benefits under government schemes.
Kalaiarasan’s father T Muthusamy, 55, said: “My son was in college in 2014 when a broker approached me assuring me a job for my son and asked for his Aadhaar card. I gave it and signed some papers.”
Coconut merchant Murugan said his account statement showed a deposit of ₹4,943 from Avarampalayam Sarvodaya Sangh in Coimbatore in April, and ₹7,247 on March 31, 2022. He never had a passbook or an ATM card for the account and had no idea who was operating it. He has now asked the bank officials to close the account.
Jagannathan’s only association with handlooms was the few sarees he…
According to the TNSS website, C Murugan, 40, from Manathal village near Amarakunthi in Salem district is a weaver. He turned out to be a coconut merchant when TOI met him in his village. Murugan said he didn’t know he had an account at Karur Vysya Bank till an activist alerted him. R Jagannathan, 39, a tractor driver, and Kalaiarasan from Olaipatty Kattu Valavu village in Salem didn’t know they had accounts to which money was coming from TNSS and someone was withdrawing it. People who unwittingly ended up as ‘fake beneficiaries’ of the scheme told TOI that they gave their Aadhaar cards to some people who offered to get them jobs and benefits under government schemes.
Kalaiarasan’s father T Muthusamy, 55, said: “My son was in college in 2014 when a broker approached me assuring me a job for my son and asked for his Aadhaar card. I gave it and signed some papers.”
Coconut merchant Murugan said his account statement showed a deposit of ₹4,943 from Avarampalayam Sarvodaya Sangh in Coimbatore in April, and ₹7,247 on March 31, 2022. He never had a passbook or an ATM card for the account and had no idea who was operating it. He has now asked the bank officials to close the account.
Jagannathan’s only association with handlooms was the few sarees he…
