Banks cannot deny education loans of up to ₹7.5 lakh without security, Karnataka State Minorities Commission chairman U. Nisar Ahmed said at a progress review meeting in Mangaluru, highlighting complaints that students were being refused loans because of their parents’ CIBIL scores or non-performing asset records.
Ahmed made the remarks during a review of the Prime Minister’s 15-Point Programme at the Deputy Commissioner’s office in Dakshina Kannada. He said the commission had received complaints from applicants seeking loans for higher education and that some banks were delaying or rejecting applications by citing the financial history of the student’s parents.
According to the chairman, the government and the Reserve Bank of India have instructed banks to provide education loans of up to ₹7.5 lakh without requiring security. He advised students whose applications are delayed or rejected to approach the district lead bank manager.
The intervention places the district lead bank manager at the centre of resolving disputes between students and lending institutions. The report did not specify how many complaints had been received, which banks were involved or the timeline within which applications should be processed.
The meeting also covered education and welfare-related issues affecting minority communities in Dakshina Kannada. Ahmed directed the Women and Child Development Department to collect comprehensive information on children below six years of age in the district and share it with the Education Department.
At a separate minority grievances meeting at the Zilla Panchayat auditorium, Congress leader Shahul Hameed asked the government to recommend additional minority student hostels. He said Dakshina Kannada currently had 13 hostels and that demand exceeded available places. Hameed sought at least six more hostels and requested that the existing facilities accommodate more students.
Other demands raised at the meeting included higher payments for outsourced minority employees, changes to financial assistance under several education and welfare programmes, and individual assistance of ₹50,000 under the Shaadi Bhagya scheme rather than support restricted to mass marriages.
Ahmed also said the number of minority children enrolling in Class 1 in the state was lower than expected. He said 1.20 lakh minority students had enrolled, against an estimated requirement of 1.50 lakh, leaving a gap of 30,000 enrolments. The Education Department has been asked to examine the reasons, he said.
The commission is also facilitating access to employment exchanges through a QR code on its website. Ahmed said employment training was currently available only in Bengaluru and that the government had been asked to establish centres in four other parts of the state. District officials and senior police officers attended the review meeting.
