Efforts will be taken to provide educational loans for students to the tune of ₹500 crore this year in the district, said Madurai MP Su. Venkatesan on Wednesday.
Talking to reporters here after chairing a meeting of district and bank officials, Mr. Venkatesan said that around 42,000 students passed out of Plus Two from 400 schools in the district this year.
“Assuming that 50% of them will end up pursuing higher education, 20,000 students will be joining colleges. A situation where these students cannot get educational loans should not arise in the district,” he said.
Collector S. Aneesh Sekhar, Corporation Commissioner K.P. Karthikeyan and officials from the department of education and Lead Bank Manager took part in the meeting.
Vidya Lakshmi portal through which loans were being applied asked students to get pan card, Aadhaar card and a bank account. This was not easy for students from rural areas and disadvantaged backgrounds. To resolve the issue and to assist students in getting loans from banks without any difficulties, three initiatives were announced.
Every higher secondary school in the district would have an officer to guide students to obtain loans. A nodal officer for each block in the district and for each zone in the corporation would also be appointed for easing the loan procedures. A support centre for applying educational loans would be started next week at the district collectorate, with a separate phone number and mail ID. In the coming week, students would be made aware of the developements.
Mr. Venkatesan also insisted that banks should not ask for surety for educational loans below ₹4 lakh. “We will review the progress of loan distribution every week and the official concerned has to provide reason for rejecting any educational loan application,” he said.
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