In an attempt to tap renewable energy sources, State Bank of India, Tiruchi, has installed solar power systems to provide back-up power supply to five automated teller machines (ATMs) in the city. The five ATMs, functioning on the branch premises, would now be powered by solar energy, though as a back-up to start with to keep the machines functional at times of load shedding. The bank would gradually move towards using solar power for the machines fully, officials said.
Currently, the bank has rented out a solar system for the ATMs and hoped to achieve substantial savings on power expenditure. Another ATM at Nannilam has been functioning fully with solar power. Bank officials claimed that the SBI was the first to go in for solar-powered ATMs in the State. The ‘Green ATMs’ in the city was formally dedicated by Collector Jayashree Muralidharan at a brief ceremony on Thursday. Ms.Muralidharan also handed over five Braille typewriters, each costing about Rs.25,000, to the Government Girls School for the Blind at Puthur, donated by the bank and educational assistance to a girl child adopted by the bank as part of its corporate social responsibility initiatives. The bank authorities also formally handed over 500 tree guards to the Collector on the occasion.
Ms.Muralidharan commended the bank for donating the Braille typewriters to the blind school, which she pointed out had achieved cent per cent results in public exams. The visually challenged girls were proving that they could outdo normal children, if given the right opportunities. Referring to the greening drive taken up across the district, Ms.Muralidharan said that much more needs to be done to improve the green cover, especially within the city limits where the pollution levels are high. She appealed to the bank to come forward to donate more tree guards and adopt traffic islands in the city.
Arun Agarwal, deputy general manager, SBI, said the bank has taken up a slew of measures under its corporate social responsibility initiatives and has adopted 85,000 girl students across the country. B.Manivasagam, AGM, SBI, Tiruchi, and senior bank officials were present.
