Former Karnataka Bank chairman Ananthakrishna passes away

MANGALURU: Former chairman and chief executive officer of Karnataka Bank Ltd, Ananthakrishna passed away in Mangaluru on Sunday. He was 74.
An erudite banker of more than four decades of experience, Ananthakrishna leaves behind his wife Renuka and son Avinash. He served as chairman and chief executive officer of the bank from 2000 to 2009 and later as the non-executive chairman of the bank up to 2016.
A resident of Bantwal in Dakshina Kannada district, Ananthakrishna joined the bank in 1971 as an officer. Prior to that, he worked as a teacher in Deepika High School, Modankaup in Bantwal. Later as a lecturer at Manipal Institute of Technology and also had a stint at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited as junior programmer.
His mortal remains were kept at his residence at Deepa Arcade at Bejai for people to pay respects and cremated later at Boloor.
Paying rich tributes to his senior, Mahabaleshwara M S, managing director and CEO of the Bank told TOI that the bank saw all-round growth under Ananthakrishna’s stewardship. He was a successful chairman and a great human being.
Ananthakrishna was a senior manager when I joined the bank and I have seen his growth as well as the growth of the bank from close quarters. He was a major inspiration for the Karnataka Bank family, Mahabaleshwara added.
The bank implemented core banking solutions across all its branches in India during his stint as the chairman of the bank, a move that improved productivity, Mahabaleshwara said.
“We have lost an elderly figure who shepherded the bank to its present heights. I pay my rich and humble tributes to this genial person and pray to the almighty to give his family the strength to bear this personal loss,” Mahabaleshwara said about his former boss.
At Karnataka Bank, Ananthakrishna served in various capacities - at operational level and in key management positions in various areas such as treasury and accounts, corporate taxation, IT and credit administration.
His performance saw the bank elevate him as general manager in 1994 and later as chief GM in 1998. He was appointed as chairman and CEO in July 2000. He also served as the honorary secretary of Indian Banks’ Association.