Chaired by the Bank’s Executive President Arun Gandotra, the meetings were held at Zonal Offices Jammu (Central-I) and Jammu (Central-II) respectively. Presidents Anil Deep Mehta and Syed Rais Maqbool, Zonal Head Jammu (Central-I) Shareesh Sharma, Zonal Head Jammu (Central-II) Anand Pal Singh, Cluster Heads and senior officers were also present at the meetings, while as the trade and industrial associations from Jammu and Kathua were represented by Neeraj Anand (President, Chamber of Traders Federation), Rahul Sahai (Chairman, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Jammu), Ajit Bawa (President, Kathua Industry Association), Sandeep Mittal (Gen Secy), Vijay Aggarwal (President, Association of Industries IGC Samba), Arjun Malhotra (Gen Secy), Lalit Mahajan (President, Bari Brahmana Industries Association) and Viraj Malhotra (Gen Secy) along with other office bearers of these business associations.
During their interactions, the associations appreciated the systemic importance of J&K Bank in the economy of J&K UT and acknowledged the valuable contributions of J&K Bank in helping and assisting the business community to rejuvenate the businesses especially in J&K. “The bank has always exhibited and extended solidarity with the business community whenever we faced difficulties. However, during the Covid19 the bank has really walked an extra mile and shielded the businesses of the UT from severe impact of pandemic”, echoed the delegations.
Elaborating upon the hardships faced by the business community due to the ongoing pandemic, the delegations stressed upon the reduction in interest rates, restructuring of pandemic-induced stressed accounts besides making OTS policy more flexible and easy-to-pay for genuine customers who are dealing with the Bank since long and paying off all their dues in time. While making suggestions for further improvement of services, the delegations from Kathua also requested for opening of branch in the industrial area.
After listening patiently to the delegations, the Executive President said, “Bank’s leadership is very much conscious of the interests of all its stakeholders. Our pricing policy, which is under review, will definitely take into account the genuine grievances of the business community. Regarding the borrowers impacted by the COVID pandemic, the Bank is already providing restructuring facility to the affected customers.”
On the occasion, the Executive President also constituted committees headed by the respective Zonal Heads that will conduct monthly meetings with the representatives of the federations of trade and commerce so that timely support to the business community is ensured. While concluding the meetings, the Executive President thanked the representatives for their feedback and assured them of redressing all their genuine issues on priority.
