In a bid to remove problems faced by students in obtaining education loans, the Government is working on a scheme under which it would extend guarantee for advances up to Rs 7.5 lakh, RBI Governor D. Subba Rao has said.
“There are grievances of students not getting loans or encountering problems...Understanding that there is a problem, the Government is now working on a guarantee scheme,” he told students here at an interactive programme organised by RBI and ABP News.
“It is yet to be launched. Hopefully it would come and resolve some of these issues,” he said replying to a question on the woes of students in getting educational loans.
On paper for loans up to Rs 4 lakh there should be no collateral security or guarantee. “For good students and good institutions, it is easier to get loans than for students from not so good or institutions not rated high,” he said.
“But our endeavour is irrespective of the level of achievements of institutions, they must have access to education loan up to Rs 4 lakh,” he said.
He also said that the RBI wants to deepen the penetration of banks either through bank branches or business correspondents since more than 50 per cent of the households in the country did not have bank accounts.
Noting that the RBI and the Government has initiated several steps towards financial inclusion with a view to ensuring that every household has bank accounts, he said it would become successful only when banks see it as a business opportunity.
On security and safety of electronic transactions, Subba Rao said, “Securing security is a shared responsibility. It is not the exclusive concern of RBI alone. It is the responsibility of commercial banks and of the customers.”
All the three should share the responsibility and work together to ensure that banking transactions especially electronic and mobile transactions were safe, he added.