Merger of SBoP: Congress to raise issue in Assembly

Patiala: Congress legislators from Patiala have decided to take up the issue of the merger of the State Bank of Patiala with the State Bank of India in the state Assembly

Updated At : 07:37 AM Aug 02, 2016 IST

Manish Sirhindi

Tribune News Service

Patiala, August 1

Congress legislators from Patiala have decided to take up the issue of the merger of the State Bank of Patiala with the State Bank of India in the state Assembly.

District Congress Committee president and Rajpura legislator Hardial Kamboj said he would write to the Punjab Speaker in this regard.

“The state Assembly will also pass a resolution, seeking the conversion of the State Bank of Patiala head office into the local head office (LHO) of the SBI,” he added.

Notably, after the announcement of the merger of five associate banks with the SBI, the Kerela Assembly had passed a resolution to retain the identity of the State Bank of Travancore.

Kamboj said the State Bank of Patiala was part of the state’s heritage and it could not be allowed to disappear into oblivion. “By having a local head office here, the legacy of the prestigious organisation can be continued.”

The SBoP was all gearing up for its centennial celebrations next year as it was set up by the then ruler of Patiala Maharaja Bhupinder Singh on November 17, 1917, to foster the growth of agriculture, trade and industry. The bank combined functions of a commercial as well as central banks. Initially, it had only a one branch, which has grown to 1,445 service outlets, including 1,314 branches, in all major cities of India.

After the Independence, the bank was brought under the control of the Reserve Bank of India in 1948 and renamed the Bank of Patiala. On April 1, 1960, the bank became a subsidiary of the State Bank of India and renamed as the State Bank of Patiala.

According to SBI chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya, the merger of five associate banks was likely to be completed before next March.

Congress MLA from Patiala-II Brahm Mohindra said they would raise the issue in the Assembly and do everything possible to ensure that a head office of the SBI was retained at Patiala. He said all Congress legislators would stand by the issue and get a resolution passed on the pattern of of the Kerela Assembly.

Patiala-I MLA Preneet Kaur, who is also the grand daughter-in-law of Maharaja Bhupinder Singh, said it would be a sad day for Patiala if the bank lost it’s identity.

Earlier, Patiala MP Dharamvira Gandhi had stated that it was wrong to purge the bank of its identity when it had grown exceptionally well over the past 99 years.