Jammu and Kashmir Bank has taken a series of steps to provide relief to the people in the wake of Corono virus pandemic.
A major step taken by the bank has been issuance of directions to the operative levels to extent overdraft facility of ten thousand rupees to the Jan Dhan Yojna account holders wherein all such account holders can avail an overdraft facility of up to Rs 10,000 in their respective accounts. Remarkably, an overdraft of Rs 2000 in each account can be extended to the account holders without any documentation. There are around 22 lakh Jan Dhan account holders in the UT of J&K out of which 16.51 lakh accounts are with J&K Bank.
In another significant move, as an immediate relief to its borrowers, J&K Bank shall also be increasing the working capital limits of its account holders to an extent of up to 10 pc of their existing limits. Borrowers interested to avail this facility have been advised to approach their respective business units.
These steps are in line with the Rs 1.7 lakh crore Gareeb Kalyan Package announced by the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to mitigate the hardships of the poor due to the Coronavirus lockdown, an amount of Rs 500 per month will be released to all women Jan Dhan account holders of J&K UT for the next 3 months through direct transfer.
Bank has already announced a 3-month moratorium on the payment of instalments of term loans and deferment of interest on working capital facilities outstanding as on March 1, 2020 besides slashing the key lending rate by 75 basis points (0.75 percentage point) and other measures in an emergency move to counter the economic fallout of the coronavirus-induced 21-day lockdown. J&K Bank has also reduced its external benchmark/ repo linked lined rate by 75 basis points. Further as already announced there would be no charges on debit card transactions on domestic ATMs, NEFT/RTGS transactions initiated on mPay or ebank and on UPI transactions. Also no charges shall be levied on account of non-maintenance of minimum balance.
“The direction from the central government is a timely initiative to help the poor people who have no significant source of income. About 16.51 lakh Jan Dhan account holders of J&K Bank can avail the overdraft facility from our bank. The facility is meant to help the people in dire need of money under the prevailing circumstances. The women Jan Dhan account holders who are around 7.84 lakhs in number shall also be greatly benefitted by the Rs 500 relief per month under Gareeb Kalyan Package that would involve an outflow amounting Rs 117.66 Cr over the next three months”, the CMD said while commenting on the steps taken by the central government adding that the directions to implement these measures have already been passed to the concerned departments of the bank.
Meanwhile the CMD also handed over a cheque of Rs 5 Cr to the Lieutenant Governor as donation towards J&K Relief Fund to help fight the Covid-19 pandemic in the UT. The contribution comes after the employees of the premiere financial institution donated their three days of salary, pooling together a consolidated amount of Rs 6.98 Cr, towards helping fight the pandemic that has the entire world in shackles. The residual amount was contributed towards Bank’s Employees Relief Fund for the welfare of any Covid-19 affected employee.
“It is a small gesture aimed to combat the coronavirus crisis and provide relief to the people affected by it. This contribution is to convey that we stand together in this hour of difficulty. As a responsible corporate citizen, J&K Bank remains committed to offer a helping hand for the benefit of the society at large”, the CMD said while handing over the cheque to the LG.
The LG appreciated the move while acknowledging that J&K Bank had time and again come forward to the rescue of people during earlier natural calamities as well.