The State Bank of India (SBI) on Monday donated Rs.18.50 lakh towards reconstructive surgery of persons with leprosy.
SBI chairman Pratip Chaudhuri presented the cheque to the Leprosy Mission Trust India's director Sunil Anand at a function at the bank's local head office on College Road here. The donation formed part of the SBI's corporate social responsibility activities.
Mr. Chaudhuri said the bank set aside one per cent of its net profit every year as corpus fund towards community service. As the needs of the community are enormous, individuals and corporates must join hands with the government to serve the people in need. He also spoke about the merging of subsidiary banks.
Mr .Anand said that corrective surgeries were carried to help people use their hands and legs better. This would also help remove social attached to the disease. He also spoke about the legislation in some States preventing the movement of such patients.
SBI's Chief General Manager (Chennai Circle) J.Chandrasekaran participated in the function. At another function on Monday, SBI Ladies Club donated a reverse osmosis plant to the Little Sisters of the Poor, a home for the aged, at Chetpet. It was also a CSR initiative of the bank. Officials of the SBI, Chennai Circle, said that last year donations worth Rs.1.63 crore were disbursed to various organisations in the circle.
The bank mainly concentrated on donations towards projects taken up in the fields of health and education. “We do not entertain donations to an individual. A marginal amount from the budget for publicity is also used towards the cause,” said an official. Nearly 2,000 girls have been adopted by the bank across the State and their education is funded, the official added.
