Helping hand:Home Minister P. Chidambaram giving away education loan at Vriddhachalam on Saturday.
CUDDALORE:
Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram has said that interest subsidy for educational loans will be available to the eligible candidates for the current academic year 2010—2011 also.
Speaking at a function organised at Vriddhachalam near here to give away educational loan on Saturday, Mr. Chidambaram said that the Centre had launched the interest subsidy scheme in 2009-2010 to help the candidates belonging to the economically weaker sections to take up higher education.
However, a debate was going on about the period of subsidy because it took time for the message to reach over one lakh bank branches across the country. Hence, he made it clear that the interest subsidy would be available for the academic year 2010—2011 too, based on the eligibility criteria.
The aggrieved candidates, if any, could approach the Canara Bank for redress. Guaranteeing educational loan to all the eligible candidates Mr. Chidambaram called upon them to approach the banks with confidence. He observed that he was not the Union Finance Minister now but being a Union Home Minister he was providing the youths with a weapon, the weapon of education, with which they could face future with courage and bring about bloodless revolution.
Mr. Chidambaram noted that when the former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi nationalised the banks there was a furore and questions were raised about their efficient functioning. Had she not done so, certain sections could not have derived monetary benefits such as waiver of farm loans to the tune of Rs.70,000 crore, educational loan of Rs.34,000 crore, and financial assistance of Rs.20,000 crore to 30 lakh Self-Help Groups.
Hence, the beneficiaries should certainly be thankful to Indira Gandhi for her foresight. He was proud of the fact that the U.S. president Barack Obama had expressed the view that his country should not lag behind India and China in terms of higher education. Thanks to the education policy of the United Progressive Alliance government, framed in 2004, higher education that used to be the preserve of the affluent sections had now become accessible to the economically weaker sections. In the last six years till March 31, 2010 educational loan to the tune of Rs.34,000 crore was disbursed to 18.50 lakh candidates.
Both boys and girls could seize the opportunity to pursue higher education, Mr. Chidambaram added. District Collector P. Seetharaman said that today educational loan amounting to Rs.21.17 lakh was given away. He voiced concern over the fact that 4,199 students had defaulted loan repayment to the extent of Rs.14.78 crore and called upon the banks to devise the suitable strategy to recover the money. K.S. Alagiri, M.P., Selvaperundagai (Mangalore constituency) and N. Sundaram (Karaikudi constituency) MLAs, and others were present.
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