Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today inaugurated District office-II and Automated Teller Machine (ATM) of HP State Co-operative Bank at Narkanda in district Shimla today.While addressing the gathering at Narkanda he said that the State Co-operative bank had established its worthiness and had become the first bank in the country to perform in remotest corners of the State.The Chief Minister said that by opening of this office at Narkanda, the people of the region, especially the farmers, horticulturalists and business community would be benefited at large.He said it was a matter of pride that the Bank had earned a total business of Rs. 11506.73 crore with seven percent increase besides earning a profit of Rs 143.69 crore during this fiscal.The Chief Minister said that the bank was providing all modern and online facilities to its customers and had become the leading cooperative bank amongst all the co-operatives banks in the country.He said that the bank had adopted the latest techniques and was providing online banking RTGS, NEFT and other similar services to its customers, besides extending Mobile SMS services to keep the customers updated about the schemes of the bank and their financial status which in itself was an inclusive approach which needed to be adopted by all banks.
CM announces Rs. 25 lakh for Ski lift at Narkanda
Virbhadra Singh said that Narkanda was endowed with salubrious and serene environment and had enough tourism potential. He announced Rs. 25 lakh for setting up Ski-lift at Narkanda.He said Narkanda and Kotgarh areas were forerunner in growing apples and the people had now also taken over to growing the off-season vegetables not only in Shimla district but all over the State, which had helped in strengthening the economy of the farming community. He also exhorted for preserving the customs and culture of the society and appealed to maintain and upkeep the old temples. He said that ancient architect should be adopted while constructing temples, as many temples were being constructed in modern style.He said that today the people were feeling the heat of inflation and insecurity, and the growing intolerance amongst the people could lead to the break in secular fabric of the nation. He said everyone had right to practice his/her own religion and people of all religion were Indian nationals and the powers dividing them on basis of caste, colour, region or religion should refrain from imposing their agenda on the people of India.
The Chief Minister was scheduled to attend the ‘Havana ceremony’ at State Secretariat and inaugurate ATM of the Co-operative bank at Dhalli Subzi Mandi in Shimla but due to bad weather at Delhi, his flight was delayed and he landed at Shilaru near Narkanda.Irrigation and Public Health Minister, Smt. Vidya Stokes also spoke on the occasion.Earlier, Chairman HP State Co-operative Bank, Shri Harsh Mahajan credited the achievements of the Bank to its employees and Board members. He said that presently the bank had 194 branches and 24 extension counters in the State and as on September, 2015, the working capital of the bank had reached to the tune Rs 9833.24 crore.He said that the bank had also increased its deposit portfolio to the tune of Rs 7534.78 crore and disbursed the loans of Rs 1613.05 to its customers through different loaning schemes.
He thanked the Chief Minister for dedicating the district office-II, which would have 33 branches under it and would sanction loans upto Rs 25 lakh through this office, besides the one time settlement of loans facility.He said that the National Award 2014 was given to the HP State co-operative bank besides giving it scheduled status and ‘A’ class ranking by Reserve Bank of India. He said that more 28 branches of the banks would be opened and more than 200 posts would be filled up.The employees union of the bank presented a cheque of Rs 45 lakh to the Chief Minister towards the CM Relief Fund.President Nagar Panchayat Narkanda Shri Om Prakash Sharma placed forth few demands of the area. MD, HP State co-operative Bank Shri Gopal Sharma proposed vote of thanks.Chief Parliamentary Secretary, Shri Nand Lal, DCC, President Shimla Rural, Shri Kehar Singh Khachi, Vice-Chairman HIMUDA, Shri Yashwant Chajjta, Vice-Chairman, HPSIDC, Shri Atul Sharma, Chairman, Kailash Federation Shri Brij Lal, Vice-Chairman HPMC, Shri Prakash Thakur, Member, BoD, HPTDC, Shri Rupesh Kanwal, Member BoD, HIMFED Shri Pawan Chauhan, Registrar, Co-operative Societies, Shri Amitabh Awasthi, Deputy Commissioner, Shri Dinesh Malhotra, Superintendent of Police, Shri D.W. Negi were also present on the occasion amongst others.