With a focus on providing formal banking services to the weaker sections of the population besides channelizing credit for their socio-economic welfare, J&K Bank today commissioned two Business Units (BUs) in the unbanked villages of Baggan and Kohag in Kathua district of Jammu.

Dr. Jitendra Singh, the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DONER) and Minister of State for Prime Minister's Office; Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions; Department of Atomic Energy and Department of Space, e-inaugurated the BUs in presence of the bank’s Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) Rajesh Kumar Chhibber during a function held in Zonal Office Jammu (Central I). The bank’s Zonal Head Jammu Central I Sunit Kumar and Vice President, Shareesh Sharma were also present on the occasion while as Zonal Head Jammu Central 2 Sudhir Gupta and Cluster Head Vinay Gupta were present at the B/U Kohag and B/U Baggan respectively along with bank’s other officials and customers.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Jitendra Singh appreciated the bank ’s role in helping develop sustainable and viable financial services to support and help achieve the development goals of the Government. “Inclusive economy is the only sustainable model of economy and today’s inauguration is also a step towards realizing the same in this (Kathua) district of Jammu. In this regard, J&K Bank has always taken a lead in implementation of the central government’s flagship programs of financial inclusion in the UTs of J&K and Ladakh thereby leveraging technology and adopting a multi-stakeholder approach in line with the Government’s vision”, he said.

Urging the bank to hold Loan Melas and establish helplines across the Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh, Dr Singh also emphasized the role of J&K Bank in the upcoming Investor Summit in April, 2020. “J&K Bank has a significant role to play in the upcoming Investor Summit in April”, the Union Minister said.

Towards the end of the event that was broadcast live to the locations of Baggan and Kohag, Dr Jitendra Singh addressed the audiences at these two locations in Dogri and congratulated them on the opening of bank’s branches in their areas. He urged them to avail the benefits of the banking facilities provided near their doorsteps.

Earlier, addressing the distinguished dignitary, the CMD said, “These two branches have been opened for an effective financial intervention to economically uplift the inhabitants of these villages by providing banking facilities near their doorsteps. Your guidance and support will always inspire us to work for the betterment and economic empowerment of the people of J&K and Ladakh UTs.”

Batting strongly for relief and rehabilitation of large borrowers from the UT of J&K, who also suffered due to the turmoil, R K Chhibber requested the Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh to intervene and said, “We are pleased that a package has been approved by the RBI for rehabilitation of small businesses of the J&K UT, however, the large businesses and industries have also been affected to a large extent by the said turmoil and shutdowns. Therefore, I take the liberty to urge upon esteemed Dr Sahib to intervene and use his good office to take up the matter with Union Ministry of Finance and RBI to also extend the said package to large businesses and industries of J&K UT because they are also in urgent need of a helping hand from the Government.”

Speaking about the challenges after he assumed charge as the bank’s CMD, R K Chhibber said, “The last six months were very challenging and a testing time for our Bank, however all the challenges were responded with patience and through the resilience of the human assets of our Bank besides the rock solid support of J&K Government and Union Government.’

“Immediately after assuming the responsibility as CMD, I ensured that our balance sheet remains insulated despite down gradation of IL&FS loan account worth Rs 800 Cr. I continued the bank’s expansion plan across the J&K region besides ensuring that all the stakeholders remained informed about the fundamental strengths and financial soundness of the bank through all means of communication media. Govt of J&K also issued positive statements about the bank and all these steps resulted in maintaining the bank’s overall perception among all the stake holders”, he added.

Extolling the dedication of the bank’s staff on the occasion, the CMD asserted that when other banks shut their branches and ATMs due to recent disturbances, J&K Bank’s resilient staff, despite all odds discharged services and managed smooth operations of the bank.

A brief documentary film showcasing the profile of the unbanked villages of Baggan and Kohag was also premiered on the occasion. Depending primarily on agriculture, the people of these villages had to travel long distances for making banking transactions due to unavailability of financial touchpoints.

“People from surrounding villages like Dehota, Marhoon, Malad, and Katli had to travel to Kishenpur or Billawar branches of J&K Bank to avail banking services. The opening of branches in Baggan and Kohag will provide a lot of convenience to all of us. And we are thankful the bank’s leadership for their efforts and kind gesture”, one of the residents said. Residents of other unbanked villages like Lahri, Najot, Dannu Parole, Godu Phalank etc. will also benefit from opening of these BUs as other banks at Phinter and Gurha Kalyal were the only nearest banking service providers before the commissioning of the new BUs.