OREANDA-NEWS. May 25, 2011. In an impressive ceremony in Ashoka Hotel, Hon'ble Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee laid the foundation stone of Zonal Office of Central Bank of India. The new building will be named after the founder of the Bank, Sir Sorabji Pochkhanawala as SORABJI BHAVAN. Shri Mukherjee appreciated the contribution of the Central Bank of India to socio-economic growth of the country noticing that the Bank is in its Centenary Year. He commended the Bank for unleashing a number of new initiatives in the last two years some of them for the first time in the country.

Shri Mukherjee emphasized the need for skill development to address the huge skill gap to achieve the growth targets of 9% plus.

He appreciated the efforts of Central Bank of India and National Skill Development Corporation to come together to finance vocational education as a pilot. Finance Minister expressed the hope that this initiative of Central Bank of India will in due course become an integral part of mainstream banking.

Earlier Shri Sridhar, Chairman & Managing Director, Central Bank of India, informed that the Bank's history was replete with instances of innovation and customer service initiative. The Bank has come out with many tailor made schemes which have been aimed to provide banking facilities to one and all on competitive terms. In particular, the Bank has performed impressively in Financial Inclusion.

On this occasion the Bank and National Skill Development Corporation, signed an MoU to promote and finance Vocational Education. As per the MoU Bank will provide finance for youth pursuing skill development and vocational training with Partner Training Institutes of the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and NSDC will provide partial support. TalentSprint, Hyderabad an emerging leader in professional skill development and employability for the IT and BFSI sectors, was the first to be financed under this programme.

Shri Namo Narain Meena, Hon'ble Union Minister of State for Finance appreciated the efforts of the Bank in providing banking support to the people of the country and initiating many public interest schemes. Shri Ajay Maken, Union Minister of State for Youth Affairs & Sports (Independent Charge) speaking on the occasion desired that Bank will continue to provide financial assistance in largest measure to the needy particularly the youth. He exhorted the Banking system to work innovatively to meet national socio-economic goals. Shri Dilip Chenoy, CEO of NSDC outlined the scope and the activities undertaken by NSDC emphasizing the unique partnership between Government and Industry.