Srinagar, May 4: Extending its discussions further with the business communities, J&K Bank leadership met a delegation comprising of members from various trade bodies of Kashmir valley here at its headquarters.
Flanked by the team of his senior management, Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) R K Chhibber led the deliberations with the delegation of business and industries community headed by President Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) Sheikh Ashiq. The participants from the bank included Executive Presidents Arun Gandotra, G N Teli, and Special Secretary to CMD Karanjit Singh besides Vice Presidents Fayaz Ahmad Zargar, Manzoor Hussain, Peer Masood, Tasaduq Ahmad, Tabasum Nazir and AVP Reyaz Ahmad Wani. The delegation included members of Kashmir Economic Alliance, Kashmir Traders and Manufacturers Federation (KTMF), Kashmir Hoteliers and Restaurant Owners Federation (KHAROF), JK Tourism Alliance, J&K Private school Association and Cold Storage Owners Association. Besides, representatives of Kashmir Distributors & Super Stockists Association, J&K Association of Hajj and Umrah Companies, J&K Artisan Rehabilitation Forum, Shehr-i-Khaas Traders and Coordination Committee, and J&K Chemists and Druggists Association were also present.
Lauding the efforts of the bank for initiating the series of interactions with all the stakeholders of J&K economy especially the business community, the members of the delegation thanked the bank’s leadership for being sensitive and empathetic to the problems faced by them in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic preceded by the lockdown since August, 2019 in J&K.
The members requested the bank to consider their request of increasing the additional facility in Working Capital limit from 10% to 20%, interest rebates on loans for businesses, soft loans or interest free loans for hoteliers so that jobs can be secured and salaries can be paid. The members also requested the bank to take up the matter of various pending subsidies and subventions due with the UT government. The members requested the bank to review OTS policy of the bank.
While urging the Bank to strongly take up issues of business committee with government and other regulatory authorities, the delegation also pleaded for special packages for handicrafts sectors which mainly provides livelihood to people from Shehar-i-Khaas. The members also requested the bank for organizing more customer meets at the branch level.
Summing up the bank’s mantra to deal with the current crisis, the CMD said that survival and revival should go hand in hand while reiterating the bank’s commitment to extend all possible support to the business communities.
Responding to the concerns raised by the members of delegation, the bank’s CMD assured the audience that all the possible benefits within the regulatory framework shall be extended to the borrowers. The CMD asserted that the Bank was conducting deliberations with all trade bodies through its recently constituted high-level committees in Jammu as well as in Kashmir to assess the practical issues being faced by the business communities and reach at mutually beneficial conclusions within the regulatory framework.
Taking a note of the demands of the delegation especially with regard to the enhancement in additional working capital, the CMD said that the demands were currently under consideration for workable and viable options. “The committee formed by the bank is already looking into all other aspects suggested by the delegation. Besides the Bank is actively and regularly taking up issue pertaining to extending relief/ relaxation to the borrowers with the concerned quarters”, the CMD communicated adding, “Handicrafts are of vital significance to our economy, the Bank shall consider a scheme to support the sector”
Clearing the bank’s stance on EMI deductions, he said, the bank has followed the guidelines of RBI, however, in some cases where deductions have been effected; those are for the period before March wherein installments were pending. The CMD also took note of the suggestions in respect of the reconsideration of the OTS policy. Regarding customer meets, the CMD said those would be conducted as usual but only after the pandemic is over, adding that the staff has however been strictly directed to maintain the high level of customer satisfaction while dispensing services under the present circumstances.