TURA, May 30?Financial institutions such as the State Bank of India (SBI) are slowly closing their branches in the interior areas of Garo Hills because of continuous militant threats for failing to pay up to the ultras, State Bank of India, which has the largest network of banking services in the Garo Hills extending way into the interior areas, has already closed down its third branch in the region. The SBI has a total of 44 branches in the entire Garo Hills though 24 are loss making in terms of profit making for the institution.
The first branch to be closed down due to militant threats was the Chokpot SBI Branch in 2001. ANVC militants had repeatedly demanded money from this South Garo Hills branch leading to its complete closure. This was followed by the closure of the Borkona Branch near Betasing in West Garo Hills in the same year. Borkona SBI Branch, which is on the main road to Mancachar in Assam, was made to temporarily shut down following demand note being served on it by the Area Commander of ULFA Subash Sharma. It is yet to open.
The latest SBI branch to be closed down is the Garobadha Branch on May 6. ANVC militants had called up the Garobadha Branch Manager asking him to pay five lakh rupees to the coffers of the outfit. The militants had asked the manager to visit a certain isolated spot to negotiate on the amount. When the bank refused to pay heed to the demand a written threat was issued to the branch prompting the SBI authorities to close it down indefinitely. A proposal is now being mooted to shift the branch all the way to Tura, 35 km away, for security reasons. Incidentally the Garobadha branch is only a couple of metres away from the Police Station and following the threat perception the West Garo Hills police had placed seven armed security guards at the bank.
The end result of these closures is that government staff posted in thee interior areas of Garo Hills are unable to get their salary on time and need to proceed to the nearest town having a banking facility to get their due. Government schemes are also unable to get implemented as the money cannot be withdrawn from the bank until a field study is completed for any project. No field officer is willing to leave the secure surroundings, in the heart of the district headquarters Tura, for fear of being abducted. The hardest hit are the pensioners who have no alternative other than to dole out money from their small savings to their next of kin to head to Tura for withdrawing their monthly pensions.
The closure of financial institutions is also indirectly encouraging the farmers not to save money. Earlier, many farmers had been taught the habit of putting away a portion of their earnings in the banks for a rainy day. With the exit of the banking institutions the farmers are left with a bleak future. Following the closure of the third SBI bank there are now allegations by a section of the people that the banks are using the militancy card to do away with non-performing branches. With only ten SBI branches out of 44 garnering profits, critics see the closure as a well-planned operation to do away with the non-profit units without raising peoples? eyebrows. All said and done it is the common man who has to bear the suffering for someone else?s deeds and motives.