Poor marks not barrier for loan

A poor academic record at the school level is not a barrier to getting educati­onal loans, the Madras high co­urt has held and di­rected Punjab National Bank, Am­bur branch, to sanction educational loan within four weeks to B. An­i­tha, a nursing student whose application was re­jected on the ground that her academic performance at the school level was poor.

The petitioner, Anitha of Vellore district, said that she belongs to Scheduled Caste and that her parents were illiterate agricultural labourers and that she was the first person in her family to pursue higher studies.

Anitha pointed out that she joined B.Sc (nursing) in Noorie College of Nur­sing in Kolar district in Karnataka and applied for education loan of `3.15 la­kh. However, Punjab Nati­o­nal Bank rejected her application on the ground that her academic performance in school was poor.

The judge said that it was not stated that the loan wo­uld be sanctioned only if the academic performance of the student was very good at the school level. On the other hand, the bank shall require the student to perfo­rm well on ge­t­ting the loan.

“Dr B.R. Ambedkar obta­i­n­­ed only 287 marks out of 750 in the matriculation ex­a­ms and his educational ne­ed was taken care of by the King of Bar­o­da on the gro­u­nd that he belongs to scheduled cas­te,” the judge said.

The petitioner pleaded that her pare­n­ts were agric­u­ltural labo­u­rers and from the economically weaker se­c­tion and nobody in her family has pursued higher studies. These facts should be taken note of by the bank while sanctioning educational loans.

“The bank cannot deny ed­ucational loan on the gr­o­u­nd that the academic rec­o­rd of the petitioner at the school level was very poor. There is no such provision in the circular of the bank that the loan can be sanctioned only if the academic performance of the student was very good at the school level,” the judge said.

The judge said the government of India has laun­c­hed the educational loan scheme to help the econo­m­ically weaker sections and not even a third party guarantee was required for disbursement of loan upto `4 lakh.