Students' credit scheme: Bengal government asks DMs to look into complaints against private banks for seeking collateral

The West Bengal government has asked district magistrates to address students' complaints against private banks for allegedly seeking collateral from their parents in lieu of extending loans under a state-run scheme, an official said on Saturday.

Chief Secretary HK Dwivedi held a meeting with district magistrates and other officials on Friday and asked them to look into the complaints of students who are facing difficulties to avail collateral-free credit facility, he said.

The higher education department had introduced the "Student Credit Card" scheme to enable beneficiaries to pursue their studies without having any financial constraint.

"We have received several complaints from students against private banks for seeking various documents of security from parents, including land deed, to extend credit under the scheme. They also alleged that some lenders asked them to put money, equivalent to the loan amount, as fixed deposit," the senior official of the grievance redressal cell of the chief minister's office said.

Under the programme, a student from West Bengal can obtain a maximum loan of Rs 10 lakh at 4 per cent annual interest from banks with a repayment period of 15 years. The upper age limit of students has been kept as 40 years.