Srinagar, Apr 23: Strengthening further its long-standing association with National Institute of Technology (NIT) Srinagar, J&K Bank under its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program today commissioned a water treatment plant at NIT Hazratbal. The bank also donated 60 Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) units for computers donated by NIT to five government schools, thus contributing to computer literacy in the state.
Chairman and CEO Parvez Ahmed and Director NIT Dr. Rakesh Sehgal jointly commissioned the treatment plant besides inaugurating the refurbished premises of the bank’s model Business Unit within the campus along with two Automated Teller Machines (ATM) in the presence of Registrar NIT Dr. S K Bukhari and the bank’s Executive President R K Chhibber.
Speaking on the occasion, Chairman and CEO Parvez Ahmed said, “As two prestigious institutions, both J&K Bank and NIT-the erstwhile Regional Engineering College- have been playing significant role in shaping the financial, technical and technological landscape of Jammu and Kashmir for quite a long time now”, adding “NIT has produced the best technocrats to build the infrastructure in the state and country.
Urging upon the Director and faculty to develop an ecosystem of Industry academia partnership for integrating the education with the skills, the Chairman said, “A lot of brainstorming needs to be done on issues like Integrating Education with skills in almost all the sectors like Software, manufacturing, services etc. and for that I would like to request the NIT Director and Team to show the way by collaborating with the major industries of the country in all the sectors and we at JK Bank will be more than willing to collaborate financially and logistically as it will also help us in clearing the perception about our state.”
Expressing the need to promote a start up culture in the state, he said,” We should collaborate and develop a start up culture in the institution so that we are not left behind in the emerging paradigm of value creation by the new generation start ups. We are looking forward to student and faculty of NIT Srinagar giving customized solutions to the problems we are facing on day to day basis. On the one hand whole world and leading companies are benefitting from the new revolutionary fields of Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Cloud, Data Analytics which are the tectonic movements that are reshaping the world today and to get the most out of them let us also see some students and faculty members to introduce the same as an intervention for upgradation of Fintech in our state as a pilot which can be scaled up and implemented in financial institutions like the JK Bank.”
On the occasion, the Chairman also announced the donation of Ambulance to NIT for student welfare besides promising to institute J&K Bank Gold Medal for recognizing the Achievers of NIT Srinagar in the near future.
Director NIT Prof Rakesh Sehgal while felicitating the Chairman for his contribution in International Conference on Nano Technology hailed the socially empowering & colloborative vision of the Banks leadership. He commended the bank’s contributions towards society especially educational institutions, adding, “It is a great occasion for us because the bank has not only commissioned 2 ATMs that will go a long way in easing the access to modern banking facilities to the students and staff, but has also provided us with fresh water treatment plant in the campus, besides waiving off the transaction charges for students and donating high-quality dustbins to keep the campus clean in line with Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. I thank Parvez Ahmed for this personally.”
“We have a long association with the bank and recently we have joined hands for UNAT BHARAT ABHIYAN, under which NIT has adopted 5 villages in Kashmir to create awareness among the students and upgrading five schools to model schools. We have decided to provide them with computers and today J&K Bank has come forward with 60 UPS systems for these. For all this and more I express my sincere gratitude to the bank’s leadership”, he added.
Pertinently, the schools adopted by the NIT are Govt middle schools of Nanbug, Gutligund, Faker Gujree, Pucha, and Mukam.
Present on occasion, R K Chhibber said, “NIT has contributed a lot by providing and grooming engineers, scientists, and professors for decades. Today it has afforded us the opportunity to serve the student community and faculty by allowing us to commission ATM and water treatment plant”.
Earlier, welcoming the dignitaries, Tabassum Nazir emphasized on the need to strengthen the industry-academia relationship for the holistic development of the state and beyond. She said that the MoU shall forge a lasting relationship between the two institutions.
The occasion was marked by the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the institute, which was signed by Registrar NIT S K Bukhari and Zonal Head Kashmir Central-I Tabassum Nazir, wherein the bank conferred the Most Favored Client status to the NIT. Vice President Strategy & IT, Sushil Kumar Gupta Cluster Head Fayaz Ahmad Malik, and Head Business Unit NIT, senior faculty members of NIT and other senior officers of the bank were present on the occasion. Consequently, NIT has declared J&K Bank as a preferred Banker for its exclusive dealings regarding all banking related services.
