PATNA: Canara Bank CMD Rajiv Kishore Dubeyon Wednesday said his bank has planned to open 80 to 90 new branches and 50 to 55 new ATMs in Bihar by March 2014.
"At present, we have 125 branches in different parts of Bihar. We want to increase this number to over 200 in the state. Hence, we have planned to open 80 to 90 new branches by the end of the current financial year," Dubey said while interacting with media.
He said the number of bank's ATMs in Bihar is still less than 100. The bank wants to increase the number to above 150 in the current fiscal year. "Hence, we have decided to set up 50 to 55 new ATMs at different locations in the state by March 2014. Another 50 ATMs will be set up in the next fiscal year to take the total number of ATMs to 200 by the end of March 2015," he said.
Some Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad ( ABVP) members barged in at the press conference venue and started raising slogans against the recent change in eligibility criteria for selection of probationary officers by the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS). They asked the CMD to receive their memorandum and forward it to the IBPS. Dubey obliged them and promised to forward the memorandum to IBPSdirector with his recommendation. He also clarified that his bank had no role in deciding the eligibility criteria of IBPS.
Earlier in the day, the CMD inaugurated online two new branches of the bank at Dumraon in Buxar district and Basopatti in Madhubani district.
Dubey also felicitated Super 30 founder Anand Kumar for his unique efforts to enable poor students crack the IIT entrance test. He also met four IIT-JEE toppers and reiterated that Canara Bank was committed to support meritorious students.
The CMD also inaugurated the bank's MSME Festival on the premises of Sinha Library here. At the festival, he disbursed various loans, e.g. home loan, car loan, education loan and micro loan, to the tune of Rs 106 crore.
