By The Hindu Bureau
Copyright thehindu
“When the interest rates for vehicle and business loans in the banks range just from 7% to 8%, the interest rate for educational loans is about 10%,” said Madurai MP Su. Venkatesan.
Speaking to press during the educational loan mela event organised here on Tuesday, he added it was as an injustice to the students.
Further, he said it was mostly government-owned banks which have provided 90% of education loans.
On the hurdles faced by the students in procuring education loans from the banks, Mr. Venkatesan said the government had framed rules for education loans which were almost impossible for a common person to understand and get things right.
“One such thing is the CIBIL score. Despite repeated requests to the Union government not to ask for a CIBIL score for education loans, there has been no change in the rules,” he added.
He stated that the educational loan mela which was organised in the district for the seventh time has served several students who were unable to pursue their dream course in their preferred colleges.
“Educational loans are very important for two reasons – to prevent students from falling into the traps of loan sharks and to prevent students from discontinuing their education due to their financial instability,” he added.
Only for these reasons, he said they were able to achieve the ₹100-crore-worth educational loans target in the previous year. “This year we have planned to achieve ₹200-crore target,” he added.
He asked the banks to consider educational loans as an investment they make on the country’s development.
Collector K.J. Praveen Kumar said at the loan mela that ₹26.31-crore-worth educational loans were approved for 321 students.
Students, in addition to benefitting from the loans, should also sharpen their skills through the skill trainings offered by the Tamil Nadu Skill Development Corporation.
The transitions that several such initiatives of the State government had done to the lives of lakhs of families were enough to determine their progress, he added.
