Mahila Bank to add 600 employees next year: CMD

The bank has sanctioned loans worth Rs 80-90 cr to nearly 30,000 beneficiaries across the country

Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB) will add 600 employees, mostly women, in 2014-15, when it plans to open 60 more branches in the country, its top executive has said.

The bank will also have male employees as part of the support system in certain cities and zones in the country, said Usha Ananthasubramanian, chairman and managing director, after inaugurating the bank’s 11th branch here.

“Right now we have 200 employees. But we need 600 more in the next financial year where 400 will come from different banks through deputation,” Ananthasubramanian said. The rest of the 200 employees, mostly women, could be recruited through the regular process, she said.

Stating that the growth of BMB was satisfactory, she said the bank was planning to open 14 more branches by March 31, 2014. With this, the bank will make its presence in most of the state capitals of the country. She said the bank has already made deposits of Rs 320 crore in its kitty by opening savings bank accounts of over 10,000 people in 10 branches of the BMB so far.

Besides, BMB has also sanctioned loans worth Rs 80-90 crore to nearly 30,000 beneficiaries across the country, Ananthasubramanian said.

At present the bank is offering an interest of 5 per cent on saving bank accounts with balance of Rs 1 lakh and above. For less than Rs 1 lakh, the interest rate is 4.5 per cent. The interest for deposits of one year and above is 9.15 percent. “Since BMB is a commercial bank, we are not offering any major reduction in interest rates on loans,” she said.

BMB, as part of its various initiatives towards economic empowerment of women, will be entering into tie ups with NGOs also. As one such initiative, the Bank has entered into a partnership with Dhrishtee Foundation, an NGO involved in identification and development of women beneficiaries. The Bank would extend financial support to the beneficiaries.

As a first step of the partnership, the Bank has provided loans to women beneficiaries starting/running retail shops in Malihabad village in Lucknow, under the “Rangoli” project of Dhrishtee Foundation.

Rangoli is a Women to Women Retail shop for Community Engagement. The project aims at empowering women of rural areas, by providing access to a variety of women’s products at places where women have limited access to women's products – particularly products that can significantly improve their health and wellbeing, and ultimately, their quality of life. “We are looking for more such tie up with NGOs,” she said