Thumbs up to merit criteria for educational loan

MADURAI: “There is nothing wrong in banks insisting upon the merits of students to grant educational loans” observed the HC Bench. A division bench of Justices R Banumathi and B Rajendran made these observations while dismissing the writ petitions filed by 17 college students, whose applications for loans were rejected by nationalised banks. The students were denied loans since they failed to meet the standards of the Indian Banks Association’s (IBA) guidelines, which required them to score a minimum of 60 per cent in the qualifying exams. “In order to ensure prompt repayment of the educational loan, bank is emphasising on the future prospects of the students, and their employment potential. For getting jobs/employment in different parts of the country/abroad, one of the criteria is academic performance and there is nothing wrong for banks in stipulating 60 per cent marks for students who secured admission under management quota”, the judges held. “Like in other loans, bank’s main concern is that the educational loan amount advanced to students is repaid with interest within the stipulated period”, the judges noted while harping on the loan recovery factor.