GANGTOK,: The State Bank of Sikkim (SBS) on Sunday celebrated its annual function here at Manan Kendra with Chief Minister PS Golay as the chief guest.
In his address, the Chief Minister extended his greetings to the SBS and its employees on the occasion while adding that the SBS, being Sikkim’s bank, has been extending all support for the State’s development. He called upon the people to extend their support for the growth of the SBS.
Golay shared that he and his family members have bank accounts in the SBS showing their full faith on the State undertaking. Many banks in the nation have not touched or crossed 50 years in service but our own SBS has made this glorious achievement, he said.
“As per government policy and practice, a government officer of the secretary rank is nominated as Managing Director (MD) of the SBS. However, when we appointed the new MD, we appointed a person from the SBS itself who was well versed with banking and had the zeal to build the SBS and take it to new heights. With full pride, I can say that our government took the correct decision to appoint PW Bhutia as the SBS MD and we are delighted to see the bank’s growth,” said the Chief Minister.
In his address, the Chief Minister also criticized the opposition political parties for questioning on the use of “may be” in the February 9 DoP notification for regularisation of temporary government employees. The opposition should understand that this “may be” will be fulfilled and it is not like the announcement or “may be” of the SDF government but this is from the SKM government who is regularising the government temporary employees to see them happy and prosperous, he said.
The Chief Minister announced that all the SBS employees completing four years as on December 31, 2023 would also be regularized like the other temporary government employees. We are holding a meeting with heads of all departments on February 13 at Samman Bhawan following the notification on the regularization of temporary employees, he said.
Golay directed the SBS managing director to expedite the process of listing all SBS employees who have completed four years of service.
The Chief Minister mentioned that the opposition parties have panicked after the SKM government’s historic initiative to regularize the temporary government employees including the OFOJ workers. “Now they are asking how the government will pay the salaries of the regularized employees. We are again coming to power in 2024 and have made all the arrangements to pay the salaries of all employees,” he said, asking the opposition not to drain their thinking on this matter.
Our government has also restored the old pension system besides implementing the ‘One Rank One Pension’ from January 2024 as per the demand made by the retired government employees, said the Chief Minister.
With Assembly election around the corner, Golay called on the people to bring the SKM again to government as, he said, the SKM can deliver a ‘Sunaulo Sikkim’. He highlighted the SKM government’s work and service to the people and the State in these four and a half years.
The SBS managing director, in his welcome address, said the Chief Minister has been a guardian of the bank in all fronts. He spoke about the State government’s flagship scheme ‘Skill Youth Startup Scheme’ under which the bank provided loans to about 2,000 youth for their entrepreneurial ventures.
The SBS is also a part of the other ambitious schemes like ‘Aama Sashaktikaran Yojana’ where we have 16,000 bank accounts with us with a total deposit of Rs. 12.38 crore, said Bhutia.
As per the SBS annual report, the bank’s business as of February 9 stands at Rs. 8618 crore with the operating net profit amounting to Rs. 19 crore. Our goal is to reach the bank’s capital to Rs. 500 crore within five years and we can definitely achieve it with the support of the people and government, he said.
The function was also addressed by SBS chairman DB Gurung where he spoke on the expansion of the SBS in these 4.5 years of SKM government with the opening of nine new bank branches in various corners of Sikkim.
As announced by the Chief Minister, the SBS presented awards for the best ‘Aama Sashaktikaran Yojana’ during the function.
Dawmit Lepcha from West Pendam received the first prize (Rs. 3 lakh), Tshering Choden Bhutia of Sang was presented with the second prize (Rs. 2 lakh) and the third prize was awarded to Januka Rai of Melli Dara (Rs. 1 lakh).
Similarly, seven flood-affected SBS employees received relief amounts from the SBS family which came to Rs. 1 lakh for major damage, Rs. 50,000 for partial damage and Rs. 20,000 for those staying in rented houses but their belongings were damaged.