Jammu, Feb. 4 -- Ten months after first assuring relief, the Jammu and Kashmir government has once again sought to reassure aggrieved depositors of the J&K State Cooperative Agriculture and Rural Development (SCARD) Bank that their deposits will be protected.

In a written reply to a question by MLA Aga Syed Muntazir Mehdi, cooperatives minister Javed Ahmed Dar informed the assembly that the Council of Ministers, on December 3 last year, approved the liquidation of the J&K State Cooperative Agriculture and Rural Development Bank.

Depositors have been demanding the return of their money since March last year, after the bank ran into serious financial trouble.

According to the minister, steps have been initiated to safeguard the interests...