SBI has stated that the bank has decided to waive off all the outstanding loans of 23 of the martyred CRPF soldiers | Photo Credit: Twitter

New Delhi: State Bank of India (SBI), India’s largest bank by assets and customers, has taken a slew of steps which are likely to benefit the families of martyred CRPF soldiers in the lethal attack near the Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir. All the CRPF soldiers have been the customers of the SBI under Defence Salary Package under which the bank had provided insurance of Rs 30 lakh to each of the defence personnel, SBI said. SBI on Monday, February 18, 2019, announced that the bank is taking steps to expedite the release of insurance money to the next kin of martyred soldiers.

SBI, the Mumbai-headquartered banking giant, has further taken a generous step towards alleviating the financial burden of families of CRPF soldiers. SBI has stated that the bank has decided to waive off all the outstanding loans of 23 of the martyred CRPF soldiers who had availed loans from the bank with immediate effect.

Other than this, State Bank of India has made an appeal to all its employees to voluntarily contribute towards the case through Bharat Ke Veer (bharatkeveer.gov.in), the dedicated portal controlled by Home Ministry, Government of India. Earlier this week itself, SBI created a Unified Payment Interface (UPI) payment gateway for the "Bharat Ke Veer" initiative in order to ease the process of contributions/donations to support the families of martyred CRPF soldiers.

Any person willing to extend the support to the families of CRPF victims can contribute through the SBI-led UPI Virtual Payment Address (VPA): bharatkeveer@sbi. This has been an irrecoverable loss to the families of victims and the nation and no monetary support can replace their beloved presence, however, it might help in lessening the unanticipated financial strain of the families. “One may make a contribution by logging into onlinesbi.com and then following the path Payment/Transfer- Donations, Bharat Ke Veer,” SBI said.

“It is extremely distressing and disturbing to witness the loss of lives of the Soldiers who always stand for safety of our country. In this moment of grief, our sincere thoughts are with the families of our brave hearts,” said Rajnish Kumar, Chairman, State Bank of India. “These initiatives by the Bank are a small gesture towards the families who have faced irreparable loss” Kumar said further.