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NT Bureau
Chennai, Aug 20:
 

Tamilnadu PCPMG Indira Krishna Kumar presenting a special cover to Chief Minister M Karunanidhi at a function to mark the completion of 100th year of Indian Bank in Chennai yesterday. Also seen are Finance Minister P Chidambaram, State Electricity Minister Arcot Veerasamy, Indian Bank CMD M S Sundara Rajan and its executive director A Subramanian.

        Chief Minister M Karunanidhi called upon Indian Bank to reach out to the poor and underprivileged sections of society in the course of their single-minded pursuit of growth.

        Recalling the long association of DMK and his family with Indian Bank, the Chief Minister said when the party office was opened at Royapuram in 1949, a savings account was opened in the bank. He was speaking at a function yesterday to mark the culmination of 100th anniversary of Indian Bank which was set up on 15 August, 1947 by a group of pioneers with Rs 20 lakh as seed capital. 'I was the first person to call for nationalisation of banks at a meeting of the National Development Council in 1969 for which there was opposition from some quarters within the Central government,' he said. The fear of banks losing its vitality and edge after nationalisation was belied as PSU banks had proved its worth in recent years, he said. Further, Karunanidhi urged the staff and the management of Indian Bank to strive for the uplift of the poor in the course of meeting growth objectives.

        In his address as guest of honour, Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram said only competitive economy would help PSU banks to face tough challenges in the financial sector from private and foreign banks. Recalling that Indian Bank was formed as an alternative to English banks which did not help the domestic traders and entrepreneurs, the Finance Minister said the bank had gone through many ups and downs in its chequered growth over the decades. In 1997 the bank had to pass through a critical phase during which time, he had advised the staff and management to strive hard and extend their working time by one-hour daily to overcome the crisis. He cited the performance of PSU banks have improved in the last three years after the UPA government took charge at the Centre. He was hopeful the PSU banks would step into foreign markets and take leadership role in promoting industrial growth in other countries through lending capital.

        In his opening remarks, Indian Bank CMD M S Sundara Rajan said the bank has introduced new delivery models by leveraging technology for the benefit of common man. Internet-based kiosks would be set up in 500 centres and over 1,000 kiosks would be installed in the next two years.

        The bank has opened 4 lakh No Frills account as part of its larger aim of financial inclusion of less privileged and had covered Puducherry and Cuddalore district in this project. 'We are in the process of implementing the No Frills project in all villages under the Service Area Approach in lead districts of the banks,' Sundara Rajan said.

        Emphasising the bank's focus on the common man, he said over 50 per cent of its advances was under priority sectors and 20 per cent was farm credit at the end of March 2007. The bank issued over two lakh Kisan Credit Cards and had promoted 98,285 SHGs (self-help groups), including 65,416 in Tamilnadu. Overall, the bank had lent an amount of Rs 1,434 crore to 2.17 lakh SHGs in the past decades. Education loans for Rs 900 crore were disbursed to 78,000 students of which 53,000 were from Tamilnadu. Nearly 95 per cent of the total business was captured under Core Banking Solution which was being implemented in 1,180 branches out of its total network of 1,478 branches. 'The bank is ready to offer a full spectrum of technology-centric services in an integrated manner to the common man,' he declared.

        Principal Chief Postmaster General Indira Krishna Kumar released a special cover on the occasion which was received by the Chief Minister. A book Charting the Future that traced the growth path of Indian Bank was released by Karunanidhi and the Finance Minister got its first copy.

        Indian Bank donated an ambulance to Madras ENT Research Foundation, the key to which was handed over to its managing director Dr Mohan Kameswaran. Cabinet Ministers including Arcot Veerasamy, Parithi Ilamvazhuthi and K Ponmudi, IBA chairman M B N Rao, CMDs of PSU banks and financial institutions were present at the centenary meet. Indian Bank executive director A Subramanian also spoke on the occasion.