Srinagar, Oct 26 : The long wait for the J&K Bank designed multi-purpose Government Ration Card was finally over after Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad unveiled the much talked about 'new look' ration card at a simple but impressive function here at SKICC, today. Mr Taj Mohiudin, Minister for Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution, Dr Haseeb Drabu, Chairman and Chief Executive of the J&K Bankand Mr Mushtaq Ahmed, Executive Director of the Bank flanked the Chief Minister.

The Ration Book designed and developed by J&K Bank under its social responsibility initiative has three variants viz. APL(Above Poverty Line), BPL( Below Poverty Line), AAY(Anapurna Aanaaj yojna) in Urdu, Hindi and English languages. Speaking on the occasion Mr Taj Mohiudin said that it was after repeated acts of irresponsibility by the Government press that the government thought it should look for other options as well.
Thanking J&K Bank for giving the Ration Book a decent and a presentable look, Mr Taj Mohiudin said that this is for the first time that we have received ration books well before time. "Government press never provided us Ration Books in time. Beside, every coupon in the Book is numbered which will put a halt to forgery and black-marketing as the numbers would be fed to computer to digitalize the whole process," Mr Taj Mohiudin stressed, adding, "The miscreant tactics of Photostat and scanning won't do now. It is
fool proof. Thanks to the efforts of the J&K Bank especially its Chairman Dr.Drabu."

In his speech Dr Haseeb Drabu, Chairman and CE of the J&K Bank described the Bank's designing and printing of the Ration Books on behalf of the government of Jammu and Kashmir as a corporate social responsibility initiative of the Bank to reach out to Twenty Two Lakh households across the length and breadth of the State. "It was J&K Bank that offered the Government to print these Ration Books free of cost. The idea behind this initiative is to reach out to every segment of the society especially the poorest of the poor with our products and services tailored to suit their requirements. It is an exercise to
financially include the poor and downtrodden, who otherwise don't have acess to inancial services," he elaborated. "This Card is a symbolic of J&K Bank's professionalism as we did every thing pertaining to the Ration Book in a systematic and professional manner.
Involving creative minds and professional designers and later getting them printed at Delhi was indeed a consuming exercise but we have managed to do it," Dr Drabu added.