Suicide of Shruthi Srikanth

 The suicide of Shruthi Srikanth, the nursing student, who failed to get an education loan from HDFC bank  is a sad incident. It is not Shruthi the first one to meet such a tragic end of life.

Two aspects are to be considered in this case. The callous attitude of some of the commercial banks is the first one. Though the government claims they have done much for educating students by way of bank loan, many deserving students fail to get it from banks. The new generation banks like HDFC work only for profit making and their sole consideration is in the field of granting loans for vehicle purchase and accept public deposits at a meager interest.  They stipulate a minimum balance of Rs 5000 for SB and hence this bank is inaccessible to poor people. The social commitment of new generation banks is very poor. The  officers of these banks work at high pressure to make profit, where education loan has no attraction. It is a burden to them.

The second aspect is  the never ending desire of poor parents to make their children doctors, engineers and nurses. India is a socialist country only in words where poor are always poor and rich are getting richer. The lack of better information and counseling is the reason for students and parents to fall as prey in the hands of greedy self financing colleges inside and outside the state.

Unless something is done more bright students like Shruthi Srikanth have to end up in despair. Endless wait for a bank loan is a serious problem among students admitted to self finance colleges where the fee is far beyond any reckon.

K A Solaman

The Deccan Chronicle published on 3 May 2012