Traders demand full repayment of security deposit given to Visva Bharati to set up stalls for Pous Mela

Kolkata: The traders who had given stalls during the Pous Mela, 2019 demanded full repayment of the security deposit along with the interest from the Visva Bharati authorities.

The traders have moved the Consumer Forum with their demands.

The Visva Bharati authorities have announced that it would return 30 per cent of the remaining 50 per cent of the deposit money.

The money will be deducted after calculating the expenses of Rs 10 lakhs payable to the West Bengal Pollution Control Board and to take care of the cost relating to the National Green Tribunal cases.

Aminul Huda, a

spokesman for the traders said: "When the Visva Bharati authorities had given the ground clearance certificate on December 29, 2019 they

did not mention that they would deduct the money. After much persuasion the authorities had paid 50 per cent of the deposit money and refused to pay the remaining 50 per

cent. Now, they have announced to return 30 per cent. We are not going to accept this. We want the remaining 50 per cent along with interest. Also, the way we have been harassed we want the Visva Bharati authorities to bear the cost."

He said the Visva Bharati authorities had told the stall owners that the deposit money of those who would not dismantle the stalls after the completion three days of the mela would be confiscated.

The traders had agreed to the proposal. "The Vice-Chancellor with his security personnel had confiscated the wares from the stalls illegally. We have filed a case in the court

against this," another spokesman said.

The deposit money varies from Rs 2,000 to Rs 87,000 depending on the sizes of the stalls the traders have to put up.

In 2019, as many as 1,540 stalls had been put up.

The traders said they had filed an RTI against the Visva Bharati authorities as to why a new bank account different from the account of the Pous Mela Trust account was opened to collection the deposit.

However, no reply from the Visva Bharati authorities have come so far.