Acting swiftly on the directions of the Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti to adopt one “Kangri” village in Kulgam District for upliftment of rural artisans, the J&K Bank today divulged its plan to foray in the Micro Finance operations in the state which the bank said is also its effort to further last mile banking services in the state of J&K.
The Bank’s Chairman & Chief Executive Officer Parvez Ahmed while giving details of the micro finance initiative tailored by the bank to lend hassle free financial support to craftsmen said, “There used to be a perception that the people at the bottom of the pyramid were not bankable. But the micro finance revolution across the country has already busted the perception. However, the state of Jammu and Kashmir due its socio political reasons could not see any activity from any national player in the state and J&K Bank as a responsible corporate citizen of the state considers itself duty bound to come forward and catalyse the social change which micro finance activity can bring about in the lives of poorest of the poor.”
Stating further he said the provision of micro finance services will give a big boost to J&K Bank’s efforts to take the drive of financial inclusion to the next level.
The chairman indicated that such services will be initiated on pilot basis in two villages in the state – Oaki village (locally known as Waki) in Kulgam District of South Kashmir and the one in Jammu shall be soon identified. “Once the pilot project is successfully executed it will be scaled up across the state with poorest of the poor as main beneficiaries.”
He said that ‘Kangri’ hence forth will be seen as a symbol of J&K Bank’s micro finance initiative lending warmth both to the artisan as well as to the general people who use it to beat extreme cold conditions.
Notably, Oaki is famous for its pottery and ‘Kangri” and hundreds of rural artisans carve out their livelihood out of ‘Kangri” making and earthen pottery.
“The Bank plans to organise artisans into Joint Liability Groups who will be further linked with bank for provision of loans. Market Linkages will also be facilitated for access to local and national markets. These groups will act as integrated building blocks for enabling sanitation, health, education and economic upliftment of rural poor in J&K,” he said.
The Bank, he elaborated will transcend the boundaries of formal finance to act as a catalyst to empower every individual and every business in the state of J&K. The Bank will be designing tailor made products under the micro finance umbrella as per the needs of the rural clusters for formal launch in near future. This will not only help the bank in expanding its asset base but will also contribute in lifting the living standard of the people in rural and far flung areas up.
“I want to take the state-of-the-art banking facilities to their doorsteps as we have the modern technology available today. The weavers and craftsmen of the region will be given a special attention as a number of our traditional crafts are endangered at a time when there is revival in demand and interest in the products,” the chairman said.
(PTK)