Early Times Report
Jammu, Apr 18: Passport authorities in rest of the country, including UP, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and Bihar do not recognise Jammu and Kashmir Bank for establishing residential proof of applicants for passport. Those from Jammu and Kashmir, who are settled in different states in India, and have their saving bank accounts with the branches of Jammu and Kashmir Bank feel harassed because as account holders in Jammu and Kashmir Bank is no proof in support of their cliam of living in a city for the last over five years.Against this passport applicants are asked to furnish passbooks from either the state Bank of India or Panjab National Bank or any other bank except for Jammu and Kashmir Bank as their residential proof. Shambu Nath and Muzaffar Hussain, belonging to Jammu and Kashmir, and living in two separate towns in UP were forced by the Passport authorities in Gaziabad to open bank accounts with either SBI or PNB when they had opened their saving bank accouint with the Jammu and Kashmir Bank years ago to establish proof of their living in the towns for the last over five years. A number of people, including students and businessmen from Jammu and Kashmir, have urged the state Government, led by Omar Abdullah, to take up this issue with the central Government so that the Passport authorities did not discriminate against the Jammu and Kashmir Bank which is a public sector bank.
Aggrieved people have also appealed to all political parties in Jammu and Kashmir including Mufti Mohd Sayeed, Prof. Bhim Singh of Panthers Party, Dr Nirmal Singh and Jugal Kishore of the BJP to raise the issue with the union Government so that people, keen to secure passports, were not forced to close their saving bank accounts with the Jammu and Kashmir Bank. |
