Dreams of a better life turned into a nightmare for several sex workers in Kolkata's largest red light district Sonagachi, who lost their lifelong savings in Ponzi schemes which promised to double their money.
"I had invested two lakhs a year ago on the promise of doubling the money in three to four years. Initially I was getting interest in time, but since January this has stopped," says 30-year-old sex worker Aparna.
Aparna, is not alone. Thousands of sex workers in Sonagachi have lost their lifelong savings by investing in Ponzi schemes similar to the fate of thousands of investors allegedly duped by the Saradha Group and other chitfunds.
"Near about 40 to 50 per cent of sex workers in the red light district have lost their life's savings by investing in Saradha and other chitfunds," says Bharati, a member of Durbar Mahila Samanaya Committee, an NGO working for sex workers.
"As of now we are aware that about Rs three crore has been lost by sex workers," Bharati claims.
Earlier, sex workers used to keep their money at the Usha Multipurpose Cooperative Society, better known as Usha Bank, formed in 1995 with the help of Durbar.
Of the 19,000 sex workers in the state, 15,000 in the metropolis had accounts with Usha Bank.
Till 2004-05 it was the only bank where sex workers deposited their earnings and took loans for higher education of their children and home loans.
"For the last one decade Usha Bank was the only bank where sex workers deposited their money. In the last financial year the turnover of the bank was Rs 16 crore," says Shantanu Mukherjee, a senior official of the bank.
