Account woes: Poor parents struggle

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, May 17

As many as 72 students from poor families studying at Government Primary School, Chohak Kalan, are in a fix. The State Bank of India with which they were asked to open their accounts for transfer of scholarship has asked them to maintain a minimum balance of Rs 2,000 or face deduction of charges.

The parents said the accounts had been opened on an assurance that these would be zero-balance accounts and would primarily be used for direct transfer of any benefit or stipend to students. They said they were in for a shock when they got the message, “Your SBI account balance in April 2017 is below the required minimum monthly average. Please restore in 30 days to avoid charges in June”.

Naseeb Chand Babbi, a parent at the school, rues, “I have three children studying here. This means that I have to maintain a balance of Rs 6,000 in three accounts. This is not at all feasible for me and many like me. We have approached the bank authorities, but they are not ready to listen”.

Rajesh Verma from an SBI branch seemed adamant on his stand, “It is not just our branch, but all banks across the country who have been asked to ensure maintenance of minimum balance in the accounts. As per directions of the RBI, a branch in rural area has to maintain a balance of Rs 1,000 while in semi-urban area the balance is Rs 2,000 and for urban areas it’s Rs 3,000. So, we have to follow the rule irrespective of the government scheme under which the account has been made.”

A random check in nearly 15-odd government schools in the district did not reflect any such direction coming from respective bank branches. Principal Gurinder Singh from Cheema Kalan village and Principal Subhash from Kala Bahian village said no parent had given them any such complaint. “They have zero-balance accounts,” they said.