West Bengal launched its ‘Student Credit Card’ on June 30. Under the scheme, a student will be eligible for a soft loan of up to Rs 10 lakh for higher studies. This was one of the schemes promised by the Trinamool Congress in the run-up to the elections.

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“The idea behind the launch of the student credit card scheme is to make the youth of Bengal self-reliant,” West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said.

The scheme will cover various institutional or non-institutional expenses to ensure no student from West Bengal is deprived of education due to lack of monetary support.

These are the salient features of the scheme:

Any Indian citizen who has been living in West Bengal for the last 10 years is eligible to apply.

The soft loan will be available for students pursuing undergraduate, postgraduate, doctoral, and post-doctoral study in India or abroad.

The student can apply for a credit limit of up to Rs 10 lakh. An interest rate of 4 percent will be levied on the loan.

The loan will have easy repayment options. This will ensure that students need not depend on their parents for pursuing higher education.

The upper age limit for eligibility is 40 years.

Students will have 15 years to repay the loan after getting a job.

The education loan can also be extended to those studying in various coaching institutes. Any student preparing for national level competitive exams such as IIT, IIM, NLU, IAS, IPS, WBPS among others, can apply.

(Edited by : Shoma Bhattacharjee)

First Published:Jun 30, 2021 6:41 PM IST