Posted: 06/09/2010
Students from Asha slums gathered with their families at Asha’s headquarters to receive the educational loans that will give them the chance to go on to higher education and a brighter future. Acting MC and Asha program officer Ramesh Pandey opened the ceremony. Monika Kumar from Peera Garhi slum colony who received a loan to study nursing at Sarvodaya Nursing spoke before the group and expressed her gratitude to Asha and the banks for creating this loan scheme that will allow her to gain skills and qualifications that would have never been available to her before.
Above: Monika gratefully accepts a loan for her nursing course
The loans were granted by Punjab National Bank, one of the 9 national banks that joined with Asha and the Finance Ministry of India in 2008 to launch the Loan Scheme for the Urban Poor. Mr Madan, the Assistant General Manager of Punjab National Bank, Karol Bagh Branch and representative of Punjab National Bank, spoke of his bank’s belief in the importance of financial inclusion and their dedication to improving financial management knowledge among the urban poor.
Dr Kiran Martin then spoke about Asha’s how the loan the scheme came into fruition with Asha’s gradual realization of the importance of financial inclusion to slum development, the discovery of unfair practices in denying loans to slum dwellers and the education and awareness process of convincing the government, the bank and the slum residents to join together for the scheme. She highlighted the importance of India’s Home Minister (previously Finance Minister) Hon Mr P Chidambaram for his support of the scheme. Directly addressing the loan recipients and their families, she emphasised the possibilities the loans created. By investing in education, these young people are opening up their prospects to better jobs, better salaries and better standards of life for themselves and their families.
The students then proudly accepted their loan cheques from Dr Martin and Mr Madan. Sushma Devi, Rohit Kumar and Raunak Singh from Mayapuri Slum Colony, studying Medical Lab Technology at Institute of Public Health. From Peeragarhi Slum Colony, Monika Kumar and Poonam Devi are going to study Nursing at Sarvodaya Nursing Institute while Vishal Kumar is studying Hotel Management. From Seelampur Slum Colony, Sachin Lal is studying NGO management, Tarannum Aziz is studying Medical Lab Technology and Pooja Kumar and Asha Kishore are studying Nursing. Vikas Bagdi from Golden Park Slum Cluster is studying Hotel Management and Deepak Yadav is studying Travel Tourism at YMCA institute.
After the ceremony many students and parents spoke one-to-one with Dr Martin. Parents told her that many had been reluctant to participate in the loan scheme, even to ensure their children’s futures. Many had never seen more than 7,000 Rupees ($150) at one time and some of the loans can be as much as 50,000-100,000 Rupees. They were cautious of getting involved with so much money. In addition, some of the girls came from traditional, conservative families whose fathers in particular were concerned about their daughters leaving home and going to study. The girls going into the nursing course will be living in a girls hostel for 3 ½ years until they graduate. Asha’s success in persuading families to take this step shows the great strides that have been made in gender equality.
Asha wishes the students the best of luck as they embark on this journey!
I used to drink all the time - all my money went on alcohol, and I was such a burden to my mother and 11 sisters. Asha put me in touch with Alcoholics Anonymous, and they have supported me so much. Now, I've taken a loan and run a small balloon factory - I'm earning money and happy for the first time in years.
Rangilal, Mayapuri
