BIHAR: Ridhi Sinha, 22, is all praise for the the Bihar Students’ Credit Card (BSCC), a flagship scheme by Nitish Kumar government.
Hailing from a lower-middle-class family, she could not afford the tuition fee of the institute as her father, Dheeraj, 52, had lost his job in the pandemic. This scheme made it possible for her to apply for an education loan to pursue a hotel management course from the Institute of Hotel Management (IHM), Hajipur, Vaishali district.
Under the scheme, the government provides education loans up to Rs 4 lakh for technical, general and professional courses, at nominal interest rates. For girls, the interest rate is 1 per cent and for boys 4 per cent. However, no interest is charged from the students for moratorium period, i.e., one year after completion of the course or six months from getting job. Ridhi’s father, Dheeraj said, “The BSCC scheme came as a boon, just when I had thought of discontinuing my daughter’s education as I had no other source of income.”
Aayush, 20, is another beneficiary of the scheme. This B Tech student at IIT-Kanpur opted for an education loan under BSCC instead of approaching the banks. “Banks charge interest rates that are over double the rate the Bihar government provides loans. It took me less than a month to complete the process to avail of the loan,” he says.
CM Nitish Kumar had launched the scheme under ‘Saat Nischay’ (Seven Resolves) programme in 2016. Initially, banks granted the loan on the recommendation of a body constituted by the government. Later, the government set up the Bihar State Education Finance Corporation Limited after receiving complaints about the banks’ lackadaisical attitude in disbursing the loan. “Now, the process is easier and more transparent,” vouches its additional director, Arvind Kumar Sinha.
Now, District Registrar cum Counselling Centres (DRCCs) receives applications from institutes across India. According to official data, the highest number of such applications comes for pursuing studies from institutes in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal, besides Bihar. While Bihar accounted for 57 per cent, Uttar Pradesh 7 per cent, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal each accounted for 4 per cent each.
Apart from Engineering and MBA courses, applications for nursing, polytechnic and general courses were received. “We have provided loan to 200-250 students enrolled at IITs and IIMs in India,” says Sinha.
The data suggested that while 67 per cent students availed of the loan for engineering courses, 22 per cent for general courses and remaining 12 per cent for professional courses. According to official data, the highest 71.10 per cent loan disbursement was done through Bihar State Education Finance Corporation Limited in the financial year 2019-20 in which 53,327 applicants availed of the facility. A sum of Rs 630.22 crore was disbursed as education loan during the period.
In the financial year 2020-21, the percentage dropped to 23 per cent due to the pandemic. Educational institutions were closed due to lockdown. Though online applications were received, their verification from the concerned institutes became difficult in the lockdown. Altogether 23,000 applications were disposed of from April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021. The process is once again gaining momentum with applicants visiting the DRCCs post lockdown after certain Covid guidelines were relaxed.
From April 1, 2021, to December 5, 2021, altogether 42,279 applications are in. From these, 24,400 were disposed of. Disbursement of Rs 453.97 crore was made. A total 2, 38, 128 applications have been received at DRCC since the scheme was launched in October 2016. From these, 1,60, 052 applications were disposed of. A sum of Rs 2,127.66 crore was disbursed in five years.
Abhinandan Mishra, 22, a B Tech (agriculture) student of Quantum University, Uttarakhand, says, “The scheme is very beneficial for the students hailing from economically backward sections, who can’t afford to pay the tuition fee of the institutes to pursue higher education.”
His father, Deepak Kumar, 48, a school teacher, remarks, “It significantly reduces the burden of students and their guardians. This is one the most successful schemes.”