West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday launched ‘Students Credit Card‘ in a unique initiative. This project of the state government is an effort to provide soft student loan up to Rs 10 lakh to the students for educational purposes. A senior government official from the West Bengal education department said, “To further encourage the students of West Bengal towards higher studies, the state government has decided to launch one of the most comprehensive and inclusive schemes in the country, ‘Student Credit Card’. So as to enable them to get security free loans. Amounts up to Rs.10 lakh are given at very nominal annual simple interest rate with repayment period of 15 years.
“The scheme covers education from secondary level to vocational courses including doctoral/post-doctoral research work in any recognized educational institution within or outside the country,” the official said. He said, “The loan will also be available to provide support to students who want to prepare for top central and state government jobs like UPSC and PSC. Be it IITA/IM/NLUS/IAS/IPS/WBCS or other competitive exams. Loan will be available to the students studying in various competitive coaching institutes to sit in.”
He said that this step is being taken so that no student in West Bengal should be deprived of education due to paucity of money. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will launch the ‘Student Credit Card’ scheme on virtual mode from the state secretariat on Wednesday and all the education departments and all district administrative officers will be present in the launching program in virtual mode. Earlier, after the cabinet’s approval to the project, the Chief Minister had said, “It was in our election manifesto and our flagship scheme like Kanyashree and Sabujshree to provide financial assistance to the students. We want them to fulfill their dreams.” A student can get a soft loan of up to Rs 10 lakh to pursue higher studies with the help of a credit card. A student up to the age of 40 can apply for the loan. A student has to take fifteen years to repay the loan. Time will be given.”