“Hurtful, insulting”: Senior J&K cop after HDFC bank denies loan, others in JKP also echo his concern
Says treatment like this to those who toil day and night in service of nation shouldn’t be acceptable
Srinagar: A senior police officer of Jammu and Kashmir police has expressed shock after he was denied loan by HDFC bank, saying that the bank has no policy to provide loan to policemen.
Taking to X (formerly known as Twitter), SSP CID Imtiyaz Hussain said that he had applied for personal loan in HDFC bank, however, he was shocked to know that they don’t provide loam to policemen as policy.
“Applied for personal loan in @HDFC_Bank. Was shocked to know that they don’t provide loans to policemen as a policy. It is so hurtful and insulting to know. The men in Khaki who toil day and night in service of our great nation being treated like this should be unacceptable to every citizen,” he posted.
Responding to his post, several netizens said that the bank has same policy towards journalists and lawyers as well. The netizens also expressed shock over the treatment being meted out to those who safeguard the people and have not been defaulters at any bank.
Meanwhile, several cops journalist also expressed same experiences as they too were denied loan by the bank, stating that the bank has no policy to provide them loan. One cop who is also an account holder of HDFC bank told KNS that HDFC website for loan services has default settings which deny loan to cops as it is mandatory to mention the profession for salaried class.
One senior police officer having more than two decades of experience said on the condition of anonymity that there is not a single instance of any police official of J&K Police being defaulter of HDFC bank loan whenever HDFC has provided loan to cops by making some exception. He said he confirmed this also from senior management of HDFC also.
In another post, Imtiyaz Hussain said the he secured quick loan from J&K bank and he had anticipated the same process from the HDFC bank, however, that was not the case.
“In just 5 minutes, I secured a quick loan from @JandKBank. As an @HDFC_Bank account holder, I anticipated a swift process within the claimed 10 seconds, emphasising that it’s not about entitlement but the right of every citizen under the constitution of our nation,” he said.
He added that discrimination based on profession goes against the fundamental right to equality. “The notion that policemen are wilful defaulters is, in my view, entirely unfounded; honest citizens shouldn’t suffer for the aberrations of a few.”
Reposting his post, DIG south Kashmir Mohammad Rayees Bhat said that the pattern was there in private banks earlier because of the belief (and perhaps practice in some case?) that if cops or uniformed personnel default on repayment, they couldn’t be bullied or harassed by “wasooli” agents. “It is shocking to know such a thing exists even in CIBIL era.”
Responding to Imtiyaz Hussain’s post, HDFC bank cares said that they would like to clarify that there is no such policy.
“Many policemen across the country are our esteemed customers, having availed loans from us. We are sorry about your experience and will be in touch with you regarding the issue faced,” it said.
While speaking to KNS Imtiyaz Hussain said that profiling and discriminating a class of people on the basis of profession is against spirit of equality enshrined in the constitution. He said we live in digital age and the claim of HDFC bank that policemen do not pay back the money is totally unfounded. He said he has not come across a single incident where JKP cops have defaulted on account of the loans taken from HDFC.
He said he did not flag the issue for his personal grievance but to highlight this issue which goes against the democratic and constitutional ethos of our country. He also added that India is avast country and people branding all policemen to be the same is erroneous. Good and bad elements are everywhere in every profession and we can not bracket policemen in just one category and black list them, he added.