In a significant development, J&K Bank has entered into an agreement with AlKhuddam Travels Ltd., to make Hajj and Umrah services available to people in remote corners of the state by providing booking services through Khidmat Centres.
Khurshid Pandit, Incharge CSC & UID projects signed the MoU on behalf of the J&K Bank while Feroz Ahmad, MD AlKhuddam Travels Ltd. put in his signatures in presence of G M Sahibzada, President, J&K Bank.
Speaking on the occasion Sahibzada described the pact as Bank's endeavour to facilitate services, as holier as Hajj and Umrah, at the closest possible location to people through the expanding network of Khidmat Centres across J&K.
"The rates offered at these Khidmat Centres will be at par with the Srinagar based Alkhuddam offices. As such, people will get to book the packages at their doorsteps without any extra charges", Sahibzada said.
Khurshid Pandit expressed hope that the arrangement, apart from benefiting the aspiring pilgrims, will also encourage and empower young entreprenuers running these Khidmat Centres. Notably, the Government of Jammu and Kashmir has appointed J&K Bank as the Service Centre Agency (SCA) for implementation of Commom Service Centre scheme in the state of J&K and is as such mandated to design, build, operate and manage as many as 1109 Common Services Centres (CSCs) in the state as part of National e-governance Plan (NeGP).
Describing J&K Bank as a natural choice for such tie-ups, Feroz said, "The idea is to use the state-wide network of JKB Khidmat Centres to reach out to the people with our highly affordable and customized Hajj & Umrah packages".
"Initially Umrah Feb 2012 bookings would be available in all the Khidmat Centres of the state", he added.