Mysuru, Aug. 10 (SBD&TRR)- Chief Minister Siddaramaiah inaugurated the renovated building of the century-old Sri Krishnarajendra (KR) Cooperative Bank at N. Madhava Rao Circle in city yesterday.

Suttur Seer Sri Shivarathri Deshikendra Swamiji graced the occasion. The CM cut the ribbon, inspected the locker room, Manager and Assistant Manager offices, fire safety and computer systems and unveiled the Bank’s newly designed logo.

A felicitation for the CM was held in front of the Bank premises. For about half an hour, vehicle movement was barred from the traffic Signal near Maharaja Sanskrit College to New Sayyaji Rao Road, from Ramanuja Road Junction via MG Road to Siddappa Square and along Vani Vilas Road, causing heavy traffic jams on surrounding roads.

Suttur Seer Sri Shivarathri Deshikendra Swamiji had to wait for the CM’s arrival, which was delayed by over an hour due to his earlier programme at Doora village. The Seer waited patiently at the nearby Shariff Furniture shop until the CM arrived around 5.30 pm. The CM met the Seer there, and together they walked to the function venue.

The event was attended by Krishnaraja (KR) MLA T.S. Srivatsa, State Guarantee Schemes Implementation Monitoring Committee Chairman H.M. Revanna, KR Bank President D. Basavaraju (Basappa), Vice-President H.N. Sarvamangala, Directors H. Vasu, Nam. Siddappa, M.D. Parthasarathy, Panchakshari, H.V. Bhaskar, Pratidwani Prasad, Tayur Ganeshmurthy, Arun Siddappa, B. Nagajyothi, M.N. Naveen Kumar, M. Shivaprakash, In-charge Manager D. Anantha Veerappa and others.

Founded in 1919 by Shettapa Siddappa, the KR Cooperative Bank is now 106 years old offering services on par with modern private commercial banks. It began with a capital of just 25 paise and now serves over 9,000 members, with a turnover in several hundred crores and an ‘A’ grade rating.

To enhance customer service, the building’s ground floor has been renovated and the first-floor office has been relocated.

Staff uniforms, biometric attendance and SMS alerts for customer transactions have also been introduced.