Rajouri: “Development of Pir Panjal remains high on the development agenda of the government. A beginning was made by the visionary Late Mufti sahib to bring the Mughal Road Project and centre of educational excellence Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University to the under developed region of Pir Panjal. Now various infrastructural projects are already underway which include the establishment of Medical College in the region and road project at Kotranka. Today I am glad to witness the flagship company of the state realizing the vision of its founders, who envisaged it providing the much needed financial support to people of the state and to make that happen it is organizational imperative to build and develop the requisite infrastructure so that the processes of growth and development are carried forward efficiently.”
Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti stated this today after inaugurating J&K Bank Zonal Office Complex Rajouri in presence of Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh, Minister for Health and Medical Education Bali Bhagat, Minister for Public Works Nayeem Akhter, Minister for Education Syed Altaf Ahmed Bukhari, Minister for Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution (CAPD) Chowdhary Zulfiqar Ali, Bank’s Chairman and CEO Parvez Ahmed, MLA Rajouri Chowdhary Qamar Hussain and Regional Director RBI N K Sahu.
The Bank’s Executive Presidents, Senior Presidents, Presidents, Vice- Presidents and other senior officers besides senior citizens and valuable customers were also present on the occasion.
“Just few days ago at a road widening event, I expressed my hope that 2017 would be the year of infrastructure development in the state; and within just three days, I have been witness to the opening of two state-of-the-art office complexes housing two currency chests of the Bank, one each in Kashmir and Jammu. As always at the forefront of developmental activities, the bank has again taken lead in developing its infrastructure across the state and I feel elated to see it happening”, she added.
Earlier, expressing his gratitude to the Chief Minister for sparing her valuable time, Chairman Parvez Ahmed said, “We feel honoured to have Chief Minister here inaugurating the Zonal Office Complex which has been very important project for the bank. This project is one of the key milestones in the history of bank as the people of Pir Panjal have always been not only supportive but ever loyal to the brand of J&K Bank.”
Delineating his vision for the region after the inauguration Parvez Ahmed asserted, “With 60 percent of population below poverty line, Jammu West Zone comprising of Rajouri and Poonch districts holds immense potential for financial empowerment and economic growth. The fact that among total population of 12 lacs there are only 50000 borrowers, points to the lucrative prospect of credit absorption in the region.
“Keeping this in view, we target total business of 10,000 Cr in the Jammu West Zone over next 3 years and envisage increasing the number of business units from 53 to 200 and ATM from 55 to 150.”
The bank, he said, has also planned to take financial inclusion to the next level by providing liberal credit assistance to cover 20% of the population annually through its various credit programs and requested the Government to enhance its reach through region specific sponsored schemes.
The focus of the Bank, he added, will be to bring down the percentage of BPL families from 60% to 30% in next 5 years. And we require support for our credit dispensation from the government through trainings in employment generation skills of population besides interest subvention.
He further stated, “The Bank shall provide direct and indirect employment to the local educated youth through branch expansion. The bank will also support startup ecosystem by launching startup schemes and incubation centers in collaboration with the state government. The Chairman also shared his plans to provide liberal financial assistance in milk production segment to the resilient women folk engaged in the cattle rearing once the government facilitated setting up of milk collection and processing plant in the region to leverage milk production capabilities of local population. The chief Minister also underlined the need of such initiative to uplift the economically underprivileged people of the region.
