Bihar College, Popular for Accepting Cows as Fees, Sealed for Non-repayment of Bank Loan

A private engineering college in Bihar’s Buxar district, which became popular for accepting cows as fees, has been shut for failing to repay its loans. Vidyadaan Institute of Technology and Management (VITM) used to offer a four-year B Tech course in exchange for five cows but has now been sealed over non-repayment of bank dues, reported The Indian Express. The closure has also endangered the future of 300 students, most of whom are local. According to the report, the loan recovery amount is Rs 5.9 crore.

VITM promoter SK Singh, who heads the Vidyadaan Society that runs the college, said their institute received an initial loan of Rs 4.65 crore in 2010 from Bank of India’s Patna corporate branch for infrastructure development. The bank, Singh added, sanctioned another loan of Rs 10 crore the next year, but never released the amount despite getting collateral security worth Rs 15 crore.

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Singh alleged that VITM is a “victim of under-financing”. “The top-up loan of Rs 10 crore was never disbursed to us, and our project ran into losses. Yet, we paid the EMI (on the initial loan amount of Rs 4.65 crore) till 2012 and some additional amount in 2013,” the VTIM promoter told the news agency.

Ravindra Prasad, who recently left as the manager of Sowan (Buxar) branch of Bank of India, refuted Singh’s allegations, saying the project was not coming along on the expected lines, and hence additional loan was not disbursed.

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The college was started in 2010 at Ariaon village in Buxar by a group of retired and active professionals including two former DRDO scientists, a social activist, a chartered accountant, and a Bangalore-based doctor.

VITM was affiliated with Patna’s Aryabhatta Gyan University and immediately became popular in Ariaon and nearby villages for its interesting barter system. Students from financially weak backgrounds, who could not give the annual fee of Rs 72,000, were able to take admission by simply paying with two cows in the first year, and one each in the three subsequent academic years.

The college saw 200 students graduating including 20 those whose parents paid cows as fees. But more importantly, 29 students of the college are yet to give their final exams.

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