The Western Ri Bhoi dorbar has threatened to temporarily shut down the State Bank of India branch in Patharkhmah for its alleged failure in providing services to the people in the area.
According to the dorbar the SBI branch has failed to maintain its ATM, lack of passbook update machine and to address shortage of staff, which has inconvenienced customers.
Representatives of the dorbar led by president, Najim Kharmalki and his secretary, Lalchester Nongrum today met the branch manager of the bank to raise the issues and said that if the bank authorities failed to address they will put the branch under lock and key.
Kharmalki told reporters that people of Western Ri Bhoi areas do not have access to digital modes of transaction as they depend on ATM for cash. “The SBI ATM in Patharkhmah for the last few years has not functioned regularly and it does not even have a passbook update machine,” he said.
He stated that one of the most important issue flagged by the dorbar was shortage of manpower in the branch. “This too was not taken up by the bank authorities. This branch functions will only a branch manager and a staff and therefore it failed to provide services to thousands of residents from Patharkhmah and its adjoining villages,” Kharmalki added.