Expressing displeasure over the denial of education loan by a few banks to deserving students citing low CIBIL scores of their parents, George Kurian, Vice-Chairman of National Commission for Minorities, has said that he would draw the attention of the Central government to the issue.
He was speaking at a meeting held here on Wednesday to review the progress of implementation of schemes related to welfare of minorities.
When the issue of access to education loan for the students from minority communities came for discussion, Solomon Menezes, Manager of District Lead Bank, said that, citing guidelines by the Reserve Bank of India, some banks were displaying reluctance to grant education loan for the children of persons having low CIBIL scores. Deputy Commissioner K.B. Sivakumar requested Mr. Kurian to draw the attention of the Centre.
Mr. Kurian said that the children should not be made to suffer for the financial problems of their parents.
The officials told the meeting that 47 of the total 68 madrasas in the district were registered with the State government. Mr. Kurian directed the officials of Department of Public Instruction to take measures to impart formal education at the madrasas. Mr. Sivakumar told the meeting that, during a survey undertaken recently, as many as 22 school dropouts from minority communities have been identified in the district of which nine students have been brought back to the purview of formal education system.
On the measures taken to prevent communal violence, Superintendent of Police K.M. Shantharaju said that since 2015, incidents of communal riots have not been reported in the district. In 2019, a total of 750 meetings of mohalla-level committees, formed to maintain peace and amity, were held across the district. As a precautionary measure, surveillance will be stepped up during the festivals that attract huge crowds to avoid untoward incidents, he added.
K.M. Vaishali, CEO of Zilla Panchayat, and G. Anuradha, Additional Deputy Commissioner, were present in the meeting.