RAIPUR: The Chhattisgarh government announced to offer interest-free loans for technical and professional courses taken by economically weaker students who hail from the Maoist-affected districts.
The benefit of the initiative on interest-free loans will be applicable only for students whose family has a gross annual income of up to Rs two lakh.
The new scheme named ‘Mukhyamantri Ucch Siksha Rinn Byaj Anudan Yojna’ will be extended to students pursuing various technical and professional courses.
The maximum loan amount under the given scheme will be Rs 4 lakh and the various studies in which the students can enrol include 35 technical and other professional courses at the diploma, graduate and post-graduate level.
The eligible students from the Maoist-affected districts of Bastar, Bijapur, Dantewada, Jashpur, Kanker, Koriya, Narayanpur, Rajnandgaon, Sarguja, Dhamtari, Mahasamund, Gariyaband, Balod, Sukma, Kondagaon and Balrampur, will be entitled to interest-free education loans for the given courses under the new scheme, the officials said.
The students belonging to poor families and native of the districts not having the impact or presence of left-wing extremism will also get the benefits of the new initiative at only a one percent interest rate.
Chief minister Vishnu Deo Sai has instructed the collectors to ensure the maximum number of students who are deserving should access the benefit of the scheme. “There should be special campaigns to promulgate the yojana among students, particularly in Maoist-affected districts of the state”, the CM told the collectors.
Chhattisgarh state technical education department to monitor the scheme
The state technical education department has been made the nodal agency to execute, monitor and carry through the programme of ‘Mukhyamantri Ucch Siksha Rinn Byaj Anudan Yojna’.
After moratorium, the regular payment needs to be done with only a one percent interest rate by the beneficiary and the remaining interest amount will be paid by the state government directly to the concerned banks.
The scheme further specified that the beneficiary students should be domiciled in Chhattisgarh and they are enrolled in courses that are established either by the state or recognised by statutory authorities like the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) or University Grants Commission. The student’s family income of not exceeding Rs 2 lakh per annum needed to be certified by a government official.
The students who are drop-outs or rusticated from institutions will not be qualified as beneficiary on education loans except those who are constrained to take a break for a maximum of one-year duration on medical grounds.