J&K Bank made a public sector unit, brought under purview of RTI, CVC

In a far-reaching decision, the Jammu and Kashmir bank has been brought under the purview of the Right to Information (RTI) act, the Chief Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) guidelines and the State Legislature, an official said Friday.

The State Administrative Council (SAC), which met here Thursday evening under the chairmanship of Governor Satya Pal Malik approved the proposal for treating the J&K Bank Limited as a Public Sector Undertaking (PSU), the official said.

The SAC approved that the provisions of the Jammu and Kashmir Right to Information Act, 2009 shall be applicable to the bank like other PSUs. Besides, the bank shall follow CVC guidelines, he added.

The J&K Bank Ltd shall be accountable to the State Legislature like other state PSUs, he said, adding that the Annual Report of the bank shall be placed before the State Legislature through the State Finance Department.

Established in 1938, the J&K Bank Ltd is the only state government promoted bank in the country, with the Jammu and Kashmir government currently holding 59.3 per cent of the shares.

Being the major shareholder, the government felt that the bank should have a character of a PSU which is subject to general supervision and access for enhanced transparency in the transaction of its business to promote public trust, the official said.

The purpose of the SAC's decision was not to question the day to day activities of the bank management but a step towards strengthening better corporate governance, he added.