SBI waives loans on CRPF jawans martyred in Pulwama attack

Mumbai, Feb 19: The country's largest lender State Bank of India has initiated slew of measures, including waving off outstanding loans of 23 CRPF soldiers martyred in a terrorist attack in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir.

Last week, 40 CRPF personnel were killed and five injured in one of the deadliest terror strikes in J&K.

"23 CRPF soldiers had availed of loans from the bank and the bank has decided to waive off all the outstanding loans with immediate effect," the bank said in a statement.

All the CRPF soldiers were the bank's customers under defence salary package where it provides insurance of Rs 30 lakh to each of the defence personnel.

The bank said it is also taking steps to expedite release of insurance money to the next of kin of the martyred soldiers.

"It is extremely distressing and disturbing to witness the loss of lives of the soldiers who always stand for safety of our country. These initiatives by the bank is a small gesture towards the families who have faced irreparable loss," the bank's chairman Rajnish Kumar said.

The bank has also created a UPI for the Bharat Ke Veer to help people make their monetary contributions easily.