An unscheduled garlanding of the statue of the former Minister P. Kakkan on his 23 death anniversary resulted in an unusual delay of 10 minutes for the Union Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram. Though it meant a delay for a person who is known for his punctuality, it did not, in any way, affect the schedule of the 103 Foundation Day celebrations of Central Bank of India here on Monday.
After the customary invocation, the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of the bank delivered the welcome address in less than five minutes followed by virtual launch of various new services and the Minister’s talk.
The entire programme got wound up within 45 minutes — the standard time the Minister spends in any bank function usually held in his Parliamentary constituency — Sivaganga. Explaining the reason for the bank celebrating its foundation day here, the Minister said that the CMD was very particular in inviting him for the event and offered to conduct it in Sivaganga.
“Initially, I was a little hesitant because 103 Foundation Day is not a big milestone. Next year, it will be 104 and a year later it will be 105. I can understand if it was a celebration to mark completion of 100 years or 125 years. But then, the CMD refused to relent because it is the first foundation day celebration after he assumed office.
“He offered to conduct it anywhere according to my convenience and I chose Madurai because it is the second largest city in Tamil Nadu after Chennai,” he said amidst thunderous applause.
Earlier, the Minister inaugurated 103 branches of the bank, 103 ATMs, CSR activities in 103 government-aided schools, provision of mediclaim insurance policy to 1.03 lakh rural families across the country and a few other new initiatives through a click of a button.
