Chhattisgarh students from poor families in Naxal-hit areas to get interest-free education loan

Raipur: The Chhattisgarh government will provide interest-free loan to students hailing from economically weaker families in Naxal-affected districts who are keen to pursue higher education in technical and vocational courses, an official said on Thursday.

The facility will be provided under 'Chief Minister Higher Education Loan Interest Grant Scheme', the public relations department official said.

The scheme will be available to eligible students of such families in other districts (not affected by Naxal menace) at 1 per cent interest rate, he informed.

Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai has directed officials to provide the benefits of the scheme to as many as youths possible by conducting a drive, he said.

The Technical Education Department has been made the nodal agency for operating the scheme which comprises loan facility for 35 technical and other vocations courses at diploma, graduate and post-graduate levels. The maximum individual limit of education loan to be disbursed under the scheme is Rs 4 lakh, the official maintained.

Students of Maoist-hit districts - Bastar, Bijapur, Dantewada, Jashpur, Kanker, Korea, Narayanpur, Rajnandgaon, Surguja, Dhamtari, Mahasamund, Gariaband, Balod, Sukma, Kondagaon and Balrampur -- will get interest-free loans under it.

To avail the benefits of the scheme, a student should be a native of Chhattisgarh with annual family income of not more than Rs 2 lakh. The student should be enrolled in a course established in Chhattisgarh and recognized by the competent authority (such as AICTE, UGC), he said.