SBI waives off loans of 23 martyred Pulwama soldiers

State Bank of India (SBI) on February 17 announced an immediate waiver of all loans availed by 23 CRPF soldiers who were martyred in the dreadful terrorist attack in Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir on February 14.

All the martyred CRPF personnel were banking with SBI under the financial institution's defence salary package, which provides insurance cover of Rs 30 lakh to all CRPF personnel. SBI has expedited the release of this insurance money to the next of kin of the martyred soldiers.

Further, in an appeal to its employees, the banks has sought voluntary financial contribute towards supporting the families of the soldiers through the government of India portal – Bharat ke Veer. To ease the process of contributing to the initiative, SBI has created a unified payments interface (UPI) id.

SBI Chairman Rajnish Kumar said, "It is extremely distressing and disturbing to witness the loss of lives of the soldiers who always stand for the safety of our country. In this moment of grief, our sincere thoughts are with the families of our brave hearts."

"These initiatives by the bank is a small gesture towards the families who have faced irreparable loss" he added.