₹3,600 crore has been sanctioned by the government under PM Vidyalaxmi scheme between 2024-25 to 2030-31 under which a subvention of interest at 3% on education loans without any guarantor to be given up to seven lakh new students of higher education was informed to Lok Sabha on Monday.
Replying to a question, Minister of State for Education Sukanta Majumdar said the scheme is available to all students belonging to OBC, SC, and ST categories, both male and female, who get merit-based admission to high-quality Higher Education Institutions (QHEIs) for degree or diploma courses.
PM Vidyalaxmi, launched on November 6, 2024, is a centrally sponsored scheme aimed at making sure that financial constraints do not hinder students from pursuing higher education. The scheme provides guarantor-free and collateral-free education loans to all the deserving students, including those from Bihar and Andhra Pradesh, who secure admission in top QHEIs on the basis of merit.
For students belonging to families with a yearly income of up to ₹8 lakh, the scheme will offer a 3% interest subvention on education loans up to ₹10 lakh. On top of this, up to one lakh new students who don't get any other scholarship or interest subvention on education loans will be the beneficiaries of this scheme, Majumdar described.
If interest subvention applications are more than one lakh, available positions shall be allotted between states on population basis for balanced representation. Bihar will get 10,302 positions and Andhra Pradesh 3,428 positions under this allotment.
For making the process simpler, the government has created a specific online platform, the PM Vidyalaxmi portal, through which students can apply for education loans and interest subvention in a simple application process. The portal is open to all Public Sector Banks, Private Banks, Regional Rural Banks, and Cooperative Banks.
Majumdar also stressed that these steps are aimed at creating awareness about the scheme and facilitating students, particularly those from rural and disadvantaged sections of society, to take maximum benefit of it.
The QHEIs chosen under PM Vidyalaxmi are institutions that feature in the top 100 in general, category-wise, or sector-wise rankings according to the latest National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF), he further added.
Read also| Education is the Most Valuable Investment in Life, Says PM Modi
Read also| Proposal for Biannual Board Exams Released for Public Feedback
