22-year-old uses RTI as a weapon to get loans for students in need.

Times of India: Chennai: Tuesday, March 18, 2014.

Many have been creative in their use of the Right To Information Act. For 22-year-old P B Deepak, RTI requests are a means to secure educational loans for poor, deserving students. Deepak, who works for Voice of Indian, an NGO, says that an RTI application is enough for banks to reverse their decisions to deny loans.

Deepak passed Class 12 but his dream of becoming a pilot crash landed because he couldn't secure a bank loan for the training course. "I felt sad that many others find themselves in a similar situation and so decided to take up their cause." he said, while drafting an RTI application for a poor student at his cramped office in Broadway's Rattan Bazaar.

Deepak says he would direct petitions on behalf of the students to the Union finance minister, regional or general manager of the concerned bank and to the banking ombudsman. Besides these, he would file RTI applications to the respective bank seeking the reasons behind the denial of loans. In 90% cases, these letters are enough for banks to reverse their decisions.

A resident of Kancheepuram, Deepak comes to Chennai on the 1st and 15th of every month to help students. Voice of Indian typically files about 5,000 such RTI applications every year. "More students have been approaching us regarding loan applications. It shows there is more awareness. Our services are completely free," says Deepak who works as a web designer.

Deepak says educational loans are tougher to get than other loans. "Bank managers prefer to find some reason to deny or delay these loans. Since RTI compels them to reply within 30 days they are forced to reconsider the issue," he says.

Most banks say the residence of the borrower does not fall under the bank branch's service area. But Deepak says RBI guidelines say such requirements are needed only for government-sponsored schemes, not educational loans.