Lalaji was keenly concerned with the fact that though Indian capital was being used to run English Banks and companies, the profits went entirely to the British, while Indians had to contend themselves with a small interest on their capital. He echoed this sentiment in one of his writing while concurring with Rai Mul Raj of Arya Samaj who had long cherished the idea that Indians should have a National Bank of their own. At the instance of Rai Mul Raj, Lala Lajpat Rai sent a circular to selected friends insisting on an Indian joint stock Bank as the first step in constructive Swadeshi and the response was satisfactory.
After filing and registering the memorandum and Articles of Association on 19 May, 1894, the bank was incorporated under Act VI of the 1882 Indian Companies Act. The prospectus of the bank was published in the Tribune, and the Urdu Akhbar-e-Am and Paisa Akhbar. On 23rd May, 1894, the founders met at the Lahore residence of Sardar Dyal Singh Majithia, the first Chairman of PNB, and resolved to go ahead with the scheme. They decided to hire a house in the famous Anarkali Bazar of Lahore opposite the post office and near well known stores of Rama Brothers.
On 12th April 1895, the bank opened for business, a day before the great Punjabi festival of Baishakhi. The essence of the Bank’s culture was clear at this first meeting itself. The fourteen original shareholders and seven directors took only a modest number of shares; the control of the bank was to lie with the large, dispersed shareholding, a purely professional approach that was as uncommon then as it is today.
To know more about branches of Punjab National Bank in Hyderabad,do visit:http://www.crazyhyderabad.com/punjab-national-bank.html
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