An OBC student has accused Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) of mental harassment for failing to cooperate with him in getting an education loan sanctioned and later withholding his degree.

Nishikant Prabhat, who hails from Khagaria in Bihar, had taken admission in the MBA programme for the 2021-23 batch at JNU's Atal Bihari Vajpayee School of Management and Entrepreneurship (ABVSME) in November 2021.

Prabhat, whose father is a farmer, mortgaged the family's farmland to pay ₹4 lakh, which is half of the total fee.

Prabhat said he had received admission offers from the Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology and the National Institute of Technology Rourkela but chose the ABVSME after the authorities assured him of all possible help.

Before the admission, Prabhat said, the ABVSME authorities had assured him that they would help him get an education loan. Prabhat alleged the JNU administration misled him by saying that the ABVSME had infrastructure similar to top B-schools and that students passing out from the institute would get an annual package of ₹15-20 lakh.

Prabhat started working as a home tutor to support his studies at JNU. However, trouble started in 2022 after he asked the ABVSME for documents such as a bona fide student certificate, fee structure and payment details.

"I applied for the documents in June 2022 so that I could submit them to the State Bank of India for processing my education loan. The school sat on my application for almost a year and gave the documents in May 2023," Prabhat said.

In March 2023, the university authorities held a meeting and assured Prabhat that the documents would be provided soon. Prabhat applied for a loan from the SBI branch outside the university campus with incomplete documents.

"SBI wrote to the institute to verify my credentials. The ABVSME initially did not respond. When I pursued the matter, they gave misleading information to the bank. The ABVSME should have written that I am a bona fide student and I have paid fees for two semesters. SBI did not agree to sanction the loan because of the misleading information," Prabhat said.

The university did not allow Prabhat to sit in the final semester exam in June 2023 and he had to give an undertaking that he would pay his dues, he said. He appeared for a special exam in October whose result has not been announced and his degree has been withheld.

"The university is saying I have to pay them the remaining fees. I have paid all that I could by mortgaging the farmland. They did not cooperate with me in getting a loan. Now I am saying I am ready to pay the amount gradually after I get a job. They should award the degree first," Prabhat said.

"I have faced severe mental harassment in the last two years. My career should not be spoiled by JNU," he said.

Rajeev Sijariya, a professor and former dean of the ABVSME, denied the allegation of negligence by the institution in cooperating with the student.

“I was the dean for eight to ten months when the student made several representations. I myself tried to help him. I even went to the bank. But he was unable to provide certain documents and the loans were not sanctioned. Then he started blaming the institution and the bank,” Sijariya said.

He said Prabhat's case was considered and he was given a special chance to sit in the exam.

An email was sent to JNU vice-chancellor Prof Santishree D. Pandit for her response to Prabhat's complaints. Her response is awaited.