SILCHAR, Oct 19 - The State Bank of India opened its administrative office at Silchar on Wednesday. With this the bank also declared Silchar as its 5th zone in North East after Guwahati, Shillong, Dibrugarh and Jorhat which will cater to the banking needs of the people of Mizoram, Tripura and Manipur. The new office is at Ukilpatty.
Congratulating the SBI fraternity materialising this initiative, PVSLN Murty, Chief General Manager, North East Circle said that this office shall facilitate banking issues for the customers of the region and also shall motivate the SBI staff to render better services. Murty also recollected contributions of Singhapurush Radha Govinda Baruah, founder of The Assam Tribune Group of Publications, for his pioneering works in the banking culture in the region.
�Earlier, Silchar was under Guwahati zone and it was tough on the part of the bank to address the complaints and issues of the customers with such a difficult terrain. Silchar is the gateway to the neighboring States and we thought opening of a zonal office penetration into those areas will make our objectives more meaningful and purposive, despite this being a cost bearing initiative,� Murty said. He also formally inaugurated the SBI learning centre which was running in an experimental mode thus far at the premises of Banga Bhawan. The bank has 736 branches across North East together with 3,000 ATMS and 3,000 customer service points for customer facilitation.
Pannalal Das, General Manager Network II said that the bank has 147 branches under the Silchar zone having an annual business turnover of Rs 16,000 crore. Das also said that affairs of the administrative office at Silchar zone will be administered by Deputy General Manager Bejoy Kumar Kuzur.
On the other hand, a donation of Rs 11 lakh was handed over to Dr Ravi Kannan, director Cachar Cancer Hospital Silchar by the Chief General Manager for setting up an oxygen unit at the hospital as a part of the bank�s CSR activity. Dr Kannan expressed his gratitude towards the authorities of the bank for extending financial assistance.
