Srinagar, Sept 11: Industries are the premium clientele of JK Bank and backbone of the J&K state economy. The Bank intends to empower every individual and every business by providing the capital to entrepreneurs in the nook and corner of the state. The bank has reoriented its business operations in a direction that catalyses growth in the state with best service delivery to the people.
This was stated today by the J&K Bank Chairman & CEO, Parvez Ahmed, after inaugurating the bank’s Business Unit at SICOP Industrial Estate Battal Ballian, Udhampur. The Business Unit is a specialized branch with major focus on Industrial Finance while also serving the general banking needs of the industrial workers and people of the villages in the nearby area.
Notably, the inauguration was held in the presence of Member of Legislative Assembly Pawan Gupta, Deputy Commissioner Udhampur, Ravinder Kumar and GM SICOP Udhampur, Rajesh Pandoh. Besides, office bearers of Chamber of Commerce and Industry lead by President Ravi Kumar Malguria , customers & members of Business community of District Udhampur were also present on the occasion..
Later, the MLA, Pawan Gupta, inaugurated the Bank’s ATM on the occasion.
Speaking during the occasion, MLA Pawan Gupta commended the quick turnaround of the bank under the leadership of Parvez Ahmed who despite challenging environment in the banking industry steered the bank to profitability. While sharing his experience with the state owned PSUs all of which except JK Bank and JKSPDC were making losses, he appreciated the JK Bank staff for working professionally.
He said that Bank has unarguably the biggest network in the state and has been instrumental in supporting business growth in the state at all times. All other banks particularly the private sector banks were not playing their role in development of J&K State.
Deputy Commissioner Udhampur, Ravinder Kumar also congratulated the Chairman and J&K Bank team over the new branch establishment. He said that Bank has served the people as a facilitator of financial progress and played instrumental role in reaching the benefits of various Central and State sponsored schemes through its wide presence.
He added that Bank functions as a unique Institution working extensively towards the overall development and service to the people apart from offering high quality banking services.
The inauguration was followed by an interactive session of J&K Bank Chairman with leading Businessmen and prominent citizens/clients of Udhampur District. Speaking during the interaction, Parvez Ahmed among other things said, “While we are focusing on strengthening the existing industrial set-up, we are equally looking forward to creating new Industries and Businesses. We value the sentiments people exude towards JK Bank as bank of the people and I urge upon all employees to ensure that the spirit of service towards them is coupled with respect and a sense of walking an extra mile to offer best customer service experience.”
He further said that Udhampur is naturally endowed and enjoys a unique location serving as the gateway to Kashmir. He further pressed the need to increase production of local produce in the area which can find a viable market in Kashmir as well as serve the needs of large Army base in Udhampur.
He said,” We want to recognize the strengths from business viability point of view and are keen to work in close collaboration with the state administration in Udhampur region particularly SICOP to help us identify and understand the key areas which can be explored for business purposes. Both of us see convergence of our objectives most in economic development and industrialization of backward areas primarily families with very low income. Udhampur offers a potential for augmentation of service based industries and growth of small industries in dairy, food processing and other products that can be derived from its rich plant base endowments. We have a wide range of products which can help flourish such small businesses.”
Chairman further announced the establishment of JK Bank’s first Start-Up Facilitation Centre in Udhampur and requested the administration, SICOP and Chamber of Commerce to identify enterprising youngsters willing to take up entrepreneurial ventures for mentorship and capacity building by the Bank’s facilitation centre. He also urged the Zonal Office and cluster offices of the Bank to increase outreach with people and undertake regular field interaction with customers to get fruitful suggestions. He also urged upon the Business Units to ensure exceptional service to customers especially old age pensioners as facilitators.
He congratulated MLA Pawan Gupta for his service to the people of Udhampur and hailed the role of SICOP in sustainable industrial development of all regions of the State and facilitating modernization. He further shared Bank’s vision to enhance its network in Udhampur area with innovative models such as Ultra Small Branches for unleashing the inherent economic potential in the area.
The business community felicitated the Chairman and expressed satisfaction over the services of the Bank in the area. They commended the approach of the Chairman in taking first hand service assessment from customers and aligning the products and services to address the needs of business community. The session concluded with vote of thanks by JK Bank Vice President, Anandpal Singh.
