A review meeting of Jammu and Kashmir State Cooperative Agriculture and Rural Development (SCARD) Bank was held here today under the chairmanship of Minister for Co-operatives and Ladakh Affairs, Chering Dorjay.During the meeting, the Minister was briefed about the overall financial position of the Bank, which has shown considerable improvements as compared to previous years in almost all the financial indicators.While interacting with the bank employees, the Minister applauded the hard work of the officials and workers and asked them to work with added zeal and honesty.He stressed upon the need to improve the recovery portfolio so as to further improve the financial position of the bank. He also reviewed the status of court cases pending in various courts of Cooperative Department and gave on the spot instructions for disposal of the cases in a time bound manner. He also advised the Legal Section of the Bank to get the court cases pending in other courts settled speedily and asked the bank management to convene meetings on quarterly basis to get regular update on the working of bank branches.He urged upon officers for quick and timely removal of bottlenecks in the execution of Schemes, strengthening of bank network, and minimizing inconvenience to the people and upliftment of farmers and particularly weaker sections of the society.
The Minister asked the concerned officials to inspire more people towards the departmental schemes as the Government is very keen to take initiatives to improve and involve younger generation so that Department gets indelible marks in every sphere of the society..The Minister was apprised that the bank has increased its business in deposits from Rs. 12.06 crore in 2011-12 to Rs 12.86 crore up to March 31, 2017. Similarly, the recoveries of the bank have increased from 31.67% during 2011-12 to 50.61% for the year of 2015-16. The meeting was further informed that the total business of the bank as on 31st March, 2012 was Rs 27.99 crore which has now reached to Rs 181.25 crore as on March 31, 2017, witnessing growth of 547%.Dorjay was briefed that the bank has cleared liabilities to the tune of Rs 12.76 crore under the financial assistance of State Government, enabling the bank to save two crore yearly interest. The bank has further released gratuity and other post retire benefits to the employees under SRO 233 to the tune of Rs two crore. He further directed the concerned to make concerted measures so that elections to choose SCARD bank board members are held to make the functioning of the bank more vibrant in its approach.Secretary Cooperative Bashir Ahmad Bhat, SCARD Bank District Managers of Kashmir province alongwith other concerned senior officers attended the meeting.Later, the Minister visited 3.50 kanal site at Bemina in Srinagar for construction of proposed SCARD bank office.