THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: On the 60th anniversary of the first sitting of the Kerala Legislative Assembly, the government has rolled out a massive Rs 900 crore Education Loan Repayment Support Scheme to help financially backward students.
The new scheme with retrospective effect from April 2016 will ensure financial assistance to repay education loans within four years of the repayment holiday, said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in the Assembly on Thursday. “The new scheme is aimed at providing relief to debt-ridden families, who have been under crisis after taking education loans for their children,” he said.
The chief minister said it is not a debt relief scheme but a project to help repaying education loan. If the student passes away or suffers physical/mental disability, government will pay the entire loan amount provided banks write off the interest.