Mizoram Direct Marketing Limited scam must be investigated properly: Activists

Aizawl (Mizonews.net): Activists in Mizoram have demanded a ”proper investigation” into what is now referred to as the Mizoram Direct Marketing Limited scam.“There should be proper investigation into the scam to unearth the truth as to how can a company use the names of the governor and the chief minister allegedly showing their endorsement of a bogus marketing scheme,” said Nipuii (name changed), an anti-corruption activist.It maybe mentioned that the Mizoram government on Thursday last had disowned a company in question which claimed itself to be a state government undertaking and also promised strict disciplinary action against the senior IPS officer who allegedly helped floated the firm.However, no action has been taken againt anyone, Nipuii added.The chief secretary’s office had earlier issued a statement saying that Mizoram Direct Marketing Limited, registered under the Companies Act 1956 on March 11, 2013 was launched by Principal Secretary of the state Industries department P C Lallawmsanga in his personal capacity, and not on behalf of the government of Mizoram.“How can the website of the company have a .gov.in domain name? The domain name was www.mizodirect.mizoram.gov.in and this clearly indicates the role of some website hosting experts at the Zoram Electronics Development Corporation Ltd. (ZENICS) which manage the Mizoram government websites,” she added.The government also said that punitive action might also be taken against the other two company ‘directors’ – Teresy Vanlalhruaii and Lalbiakthanga Chhakchhuak. But, no headway has been made in this direction.The Mizoram Direct Marketing Limited was formally launched on July 18 at Science City Auditorium in Kolkata, attended by well-known personalities including those from big companies.Mizoram Chief Secretary had informed Lallawmsanga not to attend the launching function, but the latter disobeyed her orders claiming that he and the newly-formed company had the blessings of the Chief Minister LalthanhawlaThe company’s website was taken offline soon after launching of the company but there are still numerous weblinks that has the bogus company’s name and its business. Some of these are on India’s main classified ad sites like quickr (http://goa.quikr.com/Mizoram-Direct-Marketing-Limited-Government-of-Mizoram-HAVE-YOU-REGISTERED-THIS-W0QQAdIdZ124841116), (http://www.ilovemizodirect.com,  http://www.mlmdiary.com/classifieds_detail.php?id=19482 and others. Some telephone numbers are also available for prospective investors.The company’s main business, according to the pre-launch advertisements, was promoting direct selling of branded consumer goods in the country.“It appears that some big shots in the Congress ministry are directly or indirectly involved in this scam and there needs to be an independent probe,” said another activist.Sources also confirmed that some RTI activists are planning to get information on how a government website domain allocated to Mizoram was used for the said “marketing scam”.