No unbanked blocks exist in N-E: Meena

"There were unbanked blocks in the North-East earlier. Today, there are no unbanked blocks," Minister of State for Finance Namo Narain Meena said in Rajya Sabha during Question Hour.

He said banks have been directed to open more and more branches in the region to ensure better services to people.

To a question on problems being faced by students of the region for availing educational loans, he said, "Yes, I agree ...But (those) students can take loans from anywhere in the country.

"Indian Bank's Association (IBA) has circulated a Model Educational Loan Scheme to its member banks...The scheme is for all students including students belonging to economically weaker sections and those below the poverty line," Meena said.

He said like any public sector banks (PSBs), private sector lenders are also bound by rules, regulation and law, to disburse a certain percentage of their portfolio to priority sector, which also includes educational loans.

Meena said PSBs had Rs 431.47 crore, as on March, 2011, outstanding educational loan in the North-Eastern region, while private sector lenders had just Rs 1.89 crore.