India’s largest bank, the State Bank of India, is taking various steps to provide respite to the family of the CRPF personnel, who attained martyrdom during ghastly Pulwama attack.
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According to the announcement, the banking giant will be waving off the outstanding loan amounts of 23 CRPF martyrs, who availed loans from the bank, with immediate effect. In addition to this, the bank will expedite the process of releasing insurance money to the next kin of martyred soldiers. All CPRF personnel have been customers of SBI under the Defence Salary Package, under which the bank provides insurance coverage of Rs 30 lakh to them.
“It is extremely distressing and disturbing to witness the loss of lives of the Soldiers who always stand for the safety of our country. In this moment of grief, our sincere thoughts are with the families of our brave hearts,” Rajnish Kumar, SBI’s chairman, said. He also added that steps like waiving off loans of the martyrs are a small gesture towards the irreparable loss.
SBI is also encouraging its employees too make a voluntary donation to the family of CRPF soldiers, though SBI powered National Informatics Centre portal Bharat ke veer. The bank has also devised a UPI-based Virtual Payment Address (VPA): bharatkeveer@sbi, to make donation process hassle-free.
In the wake of Pulwama attack, around 80,000 people have made voluntary payments to martyrs’ families through the portal. The contributed sum as exceeded Rs 20 cores so far. The portal was launched in April 2017 by Home Minister Rajnath Singh. Actor Akshay Kumar was also involved in the opening of the portal.
The sum received through the portal is managed by a committee of senior government officials. The committee ensures equitable distribution of contributed sum to families of Central Armed Police Forces or CAPF. CAPF consists of forces like Assam Rifles (AR), Border Security Force (BSF), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) etc.