SBI administrative office iugurated in Silchar

FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT

SILCHAR, Oct 19: An administrative office of the State Bank of India was iugurated at Ambar Building, Ukilpatty by P V S L N Murty, Chief General Mager of North East Circle, local head office, Guwahati, today.

 In his welcome address, Bejoy Kumar Kuzur emphasized on the need of a zol office at Silchar and said, “It is indeed an historical day for the whole Barak Valley. The establishment of an administrative office (AO) will be a landmark in the SBI history. All the officials have come here to grace the occasion.” He expressed gratitude towards P V S N L Murty for selecting Silchar for etched establishment of an AO. “It will benefit Silchar along with Mizoram, Tripura, and Agartala. This day will be etched in history. The SBI fraternity is overwhelmed,” he added to say.

 In his speech Murty too expressed the need for a zol office here. He said, “Normally, 250 branches of SBI should be there at a place for it to have a zol office. But the case of Silchar is different. Owing to the lack of communication and transportation facilities, and topographical difficulties, it becomes difficult for people to engage in transactions with Silchar. It is becoming difficult for practical purposes. So the need of a zol office at Silchar was felt.”

He also said northeast homes 736 branches of the SBI along with more than 3000 Customer Service Points (CSPs), ATMs and more than 2500 CDMs so that people do not have to panic when out of cash.

 “There are various other schemes in the pipeline. For now, the problem of banking and other related issues have been solved. Deep penetration into areas of Silchar should be done so that SBI can serve more and more people, P Murty added.

 Murty said, “Opening an AO here may appear an additiol cost burden. But on the flip side, it can be an investment also if all works with full sincerity and serves people well.”

 Earlier, Panl Lal Das chronicling the history of SBI said that it is the 5th zone creation of NE region and Silchar has been selected as it is also the gateway for Mizoram and Tripura which in turn, will benefit customers.

He expressed his gratitude towards Murty for making it possible.

In a noble gesture by the Bank, Rs.31 lakhs was doted to the Cachar Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, Silchar. Dr Ravi Kann said, “Last year, Murty visited the hospital and gave Rs.20 lakhs. We said that we may require another Rs.11 lakhs. He agreed very promptly.”  Today, the replica cheque of the remaining Rs.11 lakhs was handed over to Dr Ravi Kann.

 The programme that began with lighting of the lighting of the auspicious lamp by Murty, was followed by a press meet where various issues related to safety and security in ATMs, long queues in banks, fraud calls were raised. Murty said that adequate steps have been taken in this regard. “There will be a number of CSPs where unemployed youths will be hired with a handsome salary. Customers no longer have to visit banks for opening an account, transacting, withdrawing and depositing money. They can do it at CSPs. It will be also linked with the main branch.” He also said that passbook updating kiosks will be there at each CSPs so that on one update their passbook after any kind of transaction.

 “We are giving advertisements in radio and distributing pamphlets for making people alert and awake for fraud calls. We have been able to stop these unscrupulous activities to a huge extent. These activities are rampant in Churachandpur, Dimapur and other nearby places. In case of any theft in ATMs, there is a provision of remote surveillance. Any act will be recorded in the CCTV footage. Moreover there is a provision of insurance in case of theft,” Murty added.