Trump stumps Harris

It was a historic victory for Donald Trump in the just concluded Presidential election in the US. The expectations of the Americans from the newly elected President are very high and it appears as if they have voted en masse for him with a hope that Trump, like a magician, will make America great again. Trump has to fulfil his promises to the electorate, particularly the unemployed youth who look to him to provide jobs for them at any cost.

He cannot be complacent as far as the immigration policies and deportation of millions of illegal immigrants from American soil are concerned.

Those who are on work visas, including Indians, cannot be confident they won’t face the risk of deportation as extension of their visas may become a big question under Trump’s regime.

Anna Mary Yvonne

Chennai

Threat to pluralism

Trump needs to be congratulated for his win, although the electioneering was one more example of deteriorating decorum and civility. More than the economic and sociopolitical changes for the world that Trump’s second term entails, there is a perverse sense of alienation and application of fear of the ‘other’ spreading, especially among the ‘swing voters’.

The lowering levels of pluralist civility and erosion in moral standards are worrisome. Hope the world is not getting into another dark age.

Jose Abraham

Vaikom, Kerala

Student loan scheme

Apropos ‘PM-Vidyalaxmi to offer collateral-free loans up to ₹10 lakh to 22 lakh students’ (November 7), the decision by the Cabinet is laudable and helpful to all meritorious students who are facing financial problems in pursuing their studies. An interest subvention of 3 per cent further helps the students ease their loan burden.

The transparent procedure of common application to all banks digitally will help students in selecting a nearest bank branch for loan sanction and disbursal within reasonable time. Any lending is fraught with risks and bankers have to be cautious and undertake all due diligence before sanctioning such loans.

Katuru Durga Prasad Rao

Hyderabad

Interest subvention

As the loans offered under PM-Vidyalaxmi are collateral-free and guarantor-free, they will benefit a large number of students coming from weaker sections possessing no fixed assets such as land and house. For students with family income of up to₹8 lakh, the interest subvention should be at least 50 per cent of the interest charged on education loan, instead of just 3 per cent, as interest charged for a ₹10-lakh loan is usually in the range of 9-11 per cent, and the interest burden shoots up due to compounding of interest.

And if there is a delay in finding employment and thus the repayment of the loan by the student beneficiaries, the interest burden would become prohibitively high.

The government also needs to ensure that the banks do not charge any processing fee, penal charges or any other non-interest fee on the educational loans sanctioned under the scheme.

Kosaraju Chandramouli

Hyderabad