Governor on J&K Bank

After the protests and cry increased against the recent decision of SAC to declare J&K Bank as a PSU, State Governor Satya Pal Malik has said that he will make it sure that the autonomy of the bank is not tempered with and he will also see to it that the bank makes more progress on all fronts.

Satya Pal Malik allayed fears of J&K bank employees and said safeguarding the autonomy and operational independence of the institution would remain the key objective of the state administration. Malik gave the assurance to a delegation of bank employees who called on him recently in Jammu

Last month, the State Administrative Council (SAC) headed by the governor approved a proposal for treating the J&K Bank Limited as a PSU, bringing it under the purview of the Right to Information Act, the Chief Vigilance Commissioner guidelines and the state legislature. The SAC move has come under widespread criticism from mainstream political parties, separatists and business and trade organizations.

“As far as the PSU matter is concerned, the J&K Bank is regulated (i) by the RBI as an old generation private sector bank, (ii) by the Registrar of Companies as it is a Government Company under the Companies Act and (iii) by SEBI as it is a listed company. It will continue to be regulated by the RBI, SEBI and the Registrar of Companies. No changes are being made here or contemplated,” the governor told the delegation. The J&K Bank is registered as a government company under the Companies Act. The word PSU has no legal connotation. The bank continues to be a government Owned company. No new changes are being made here.