‘No Proposal Before RBI Regarding Merger Of J&K Bank’

Srinagar, Jul 26: Amid unconfirmed reports about the merger of Jammu and Kashmir Bank Ltd with some other nationalised or private bank, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) sources Friday clarified that there was no such proposal before it.

“There has been no initiative from the RBI regarding merger of the J&K Bank. Some TV channel ran this story which is absolutely baseless,” they told KNS.

“If there is something from the state government regarding the merger that is separate. But RBI has neither issued any notification nor is privy to any such decision. There is a state level meeting of the J&K Bank scheduled on August 10 and there is nothing much beyond that,” sources said and added no such proposal has been moved by the state government as well as of now.

On Wednesday some news channels ran a story claiming that J&K Bank faces the prospect of a merger with a public sector bank, most likely the State Bank of India.

The J&K Bank has remained in news ever since its chairman Parvaiz Ahmad was sacked by the governor in early June following which state Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) sleuths conducted raids on the Corporate Office of the Bank on TRC Road here. Executive Director of the Bank RK Chhiber was named as its interim chairman in place of Ahmad, who was appointed in October 2016 as the chairman of J&K Bank.

The governor administration also approved a proposal that provisions of the J&K Right to Information Act, 2009, shall be applicable to the Bank just like other state-owned undertakings. It also now follows guidelines of the Central Vigilance Commission. (KNS)