Patna: Patna district magistrate Kumar Ravi expressed concern over delay in disposal of student credit card applications by banks.

Speaking at a function for the distribution of student credit cards on Thursday, he said many applications were pending with various banks in Patna for the past month when students need the loan at the earliest. He requested banks to fast-track student credit card applications because the future of students depended on it.

The function was held at the district registration and advisory centre, where 65 students were given cards. Ravi, while thanking bank officials for clearing the applications, asked them to make branch managers sensitive to the need to process the cards quickly. "If there are objections to any application, the branch manager can meet the official of the advisory committee to make amendments," he said.

In Patna district, the Central Rural Bank has accepted the maximum number of applications, followed by Bank of India. The student credit card is distributed to applicants pursuing nursing, pharmacy and engineering courses. It falls under chief minister Nitish Kumar's seven resolves and the state government has since stopped giving aid to downtrodden students for higher education.

Even Nitish has complained against banks being reluctant to give students upto Rs 4 lakh for pursuing higher education. Recently, the government hinted that if banks were reluctant to give loan it would use the Bihar State Finance Corporation to distribute loan to students.