Thiruvananthapuram:
No urban citizen can do without availing banking services, sometimes in the form of a cash transfer or maybe a financial loan. But a majority of us are ill-informed about the tremendous evolution the banking system in India has been through. Filling this vacuum will be ‘Footprints,’ the official banking museum set up at Kowdiar by the State Bank of Travancore.
The museum was inaugurated by governor Justice P Sathasivam in a function presided over by the managing director of SBT Jeevandas Narayan. Also a book titled ‘Tradition of Trust’, depicting the bank’s history, was released by the governor by handing it over to royal family member Gouri Lakshmi Bai.
The museum will walk the visitors through the history of both the bank and the banking culture that prevailed in Kerala. Started as the Travancore Bank back in 1946 by the then Maharaja Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma, the bank was expected to serve as the central bank of the princely state of Travancore. On display at the museum are age-old banking instruments like cheque books, accounting ledgers, share certificate and share agreements. Also invoking curiosity is a larger collection of coins across different time frames in Indian history.
Artefacts from across 20 earlier branches of the bank were collected and brought in to be exhibited at this museum. “The initiative is highly welcomed by the branches from across 18 states we have presence in,” said Jeevandas Narayan. “The bank has a rich heritage that the public is often unaware of and that prompted us to establish such a museum,” he added.
“Banks have a crucial role to play in the lives of the common man. Coming from a family of farmers I had the opportunity to visit banks at a young age with my father. When I look at the facilities and ease of doing business now compared to then the scenario has undergone a progressive change,” said P Sathasivam while inaugurating the museum.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Thiruvananthapuram / TNN / April 24th, 2016