DERA GHAZI KHAN City News

NBP merger draws public ire in DG Khan
From Hasnain Qaisrani
DERA GHAZI KHAN: In an unjustified move, the management of National Bank of Pakistan has decided to close its Dera Ghazi Khan regional office, which has strength of over 50 branches, and merge it with Dera Ismail Khan region where the number of branches is below 30.
National Bank of Pakistan had established its regional office in Dera Ghazi Khan about 13 years back in 2002 where the number of pensioners is above 500,000 while the number of the regular account holders is much more. In addition, thousands of traders are running their businesses after getting loans from various branches of NBP, which were finally matured by the regional office after a thorough verification and proper documentation.
The staff, business community, public and pensioners have strongly reacted against the decision and announced that they will resist the move.
MNA Sardar Muhammad Jaffar Khan Leghari said that he would take up the issue in the National Assembly as thousands of account holders would suffer due to strange and ill-planned decision. He said that he would also approach the NBP president as well as the Finance Ministry against the decision that was not fair with the account holders as well as the bank employees.
He said that the number of farmers getting loans in the region was approximately 15,000 and a majority of them cannot afford to go to Dera Ismail Khan to process and get the loans. He said that some of the branches operational in Balochistan were within the operational area of Dera Ghazi Khan. Leghari blamed the top management of the bank for such decision, which he termed anti-public and anti-staff. He said that such decision could badly affect the industry as well as the agricultural sector where maximum industrialists and the farmers depended on loans.
Businessmen are of the view that now they would have to go to Dera Ismail Khan, KP, for their loans which is much away and even unfeasible for them. They said that they had to bear additional expenditures in the form of travelling. Meanwhile, the staffers of regional offices and affiliated branches are worried about the decision and demanded its immediate withdrawal.
Meanwhile, the Dera Ghazi Khan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in a statement, expressed concern over the decision to close the NBP regional office, terming it an unjustified. Chamber president Muhammad Anis Khawaja said that it was very surprising that the top management of the bank took such strange decision that had no solid ground and logic. He said that the decision would create inconvenience for 1 million account holders and the pensioners. He said that it would be very hard to reach Dera Ismail Khan keeping in view its geographical location and security threats to the business community. He demanded the bank high-ups withdraw their decision.