CHENNAI: A person who had obtained an educational loan from a reputed bank for his daughter’s higher studies, on Friday alleged that the bank threatened him to repay the sum borrowed despite the fact that it was not the time for repayment.
During an interactive session conducted by Education Loan Task Force, one of the initiatives of eMagazine PreSense, and attended by Arjun Ram Meghwal, Union Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Dawood, the borrower, said that he was issued an educational loan from 2009 for BDS and MDS course of his daughter.
Though the repayment date was to start only in June 2017, the bank officials called his daughter and threatened her in 2013 saying if she was unable to pay the loan then she will be dragged into the streets.
“I met the Chief Manager next day and he threatened me and forced me to execute an action plan of repayment schedule or otherwise they would not allow me to leave,” he said adding that the bank had also demanded a collateral security which was illegal as the loan amount was less than `4 lakh. The bank then filed a case.
At the session, Meghwal sought suggestions on educational loans and how to make it easily available to students.
Deepa Sheshadri, a self-employed chartered accountant suggested that section 80e of I-T Act should be implemented for education loans.
Meghwal said a nodal officer will be nominated at the zonal or regional level to monitor bankers. A grievance redressal cell will be formed at a corporate office. “We will also conduct awareness camp,” he said.
[Source:-NIE]