 "Karunanidhi slams SBI for 'shaming' education loan defaulters")
DMK president M. Karunanidhi Monday slammed the State Bank of India (SBI) for "shaming students and their parents" who had defaulted on education loans by displaying their photographs in banks.
Karunanidhi termed the SBI's action as a "wrong" and said "it is condemnable and defames students".
The Bodinayakanur branch of the SBI in Theni district, 515 km from here, and some other branches displayed photos of students and their parents for defaulting on their educational loans.
"When several money sharks are cheating banks of thousands of crores of rupees by not repaying loans, it is defamatory to display photos of students from poor and middle-class families for defaulting on education loans," Karunanidhi said.
"Bankers are reluctant to disbursing education loans. They are only interested in conducting awareness programmes for housing loans and car loans," K. Srinivasan, convenor of Education Loan Task Force (ELTF), told IANS.
ELTF guides students on rules and regulations governing education loans offered by nationalised banks.
Srinivasan said: "Many poor students borrow money from outside at higher rates of interest. This defeats the purpose of the loan scheme."