The Saradha group's collapse has possibly bankrupted lakhs of small investors robbing them of their life savings and has rendered thousands of its agents jobless. The scam highlights the failure of the government and its regulatory agencies to reign in the mushrooming chit fund companies in West Bengal. It also brings under the scanner the Trinamool Congress' proximity with the tainted group. In the wake of the scandal, the article attempts to understand why the dubious Ponzi schemes have thrived and flourished in the state.
