Early Times Report
Srinagar, Sep.8: Recognising its efforts of giving top priority to making banking services available to people in rural and backward areas and also its rigorous focus on customer-centricity, J&K Bank has been acknowledged as the Best Banker in Financial Inclusion and Best Banker in Customer Friendliness under mid-size category.
The bank won the honours at The Sunday Standard Best Bankers' Awards on September 6, 2013 at a grand function held at The Taj Mahal Hotel, Delhi. Mushtaq Ahmad, Chairman & CEO, J&K Bank received the awards from Kamal Nath, Minister of Urban Development.
The Awards have been instituted by the Sunday Standard, part of vetran journalist Prabhu Chawla led The New Indian Express Group. The Group had engaged Indicus Analytics, India's premier economic research agency, to conduct a stringent survey and find out India's best bankers.
Pertinently, The Sunday standard's special award supplement describes Mushtaq Ahmad as "A Great Developer of Talent". Elaborating, it says; "Ahmad is well known for his discipline and for his leadership skills, both within his bank as well as across industry. As a top executive, he lays great emphasis on talent search, human resources development, and skill enhancement besides team building."
Speaking on the occasion Anand Sharma said, "The Indian banking industry can emerge as the world's third largest by 2025, adding "We have inherent strengths and I see no reason why we can't reach the target".
Urging the bankers to be socially responsible Sharma said, "Several thousand villages have no access to banking services and the industry has a social responsibility towards fulfilling this gap".
In his address Kamal Nath said the word reform has become a catchphrase but what we need is reforms of governance in both Centre and the state. "The banking industry is plagued with huge NPAs. But we must understand that these NPAs are because of stalled projects and not bad projects," he said.
Comenting on the awards Mushtaq Ahmad said, "The awards acknowledge J&K Bank's commitment to the poor and the backward. They are a tribute to the employees of the bank who are real interface between people and the bank; and serve the people with dedication and determination".
"Though bagging such coveted Awards is a credit that J&K Bank deserves for its resilience and robustness, but for us it is more than that. They serve as an inspiration and encouragement to serve our customers with more prudence and patience", he stressed.
Parvez Ahmad, Bank's Executive President and A.K Koul, Bank's Zonal head for Delhi were present at the function. |
