Kerala govt to allocate Rs 900 crore to poor students

Trivananthapuram: Not only Kerala government launched a Rs 900 crore scheme to help poor students repay their education loans, but also they have decided to set up helpdesks in different parts the state to provide information about the scheme to deserving candidates.

The help desks will be first set up in Kozhikode from May 15, they will be functioning in 16 CPI(M) area committee offices of Kozhikode, TNM reported.

The students who will benefit from the scheme will be from families with annual income below Rs 6 lakh, and also it would benefit the students who took loans below Rs 9 lakhs. Kozhikode district committee called a meeting on Sunday, of people who were having difficulty repaying educational loans. In the meeting, the district leaders have said that the party will effectively use their organisational units to spread the benefit of the scheme in the public interest.

Kozhikode district secretary P Mohanan also informed that hundreds of the people will be benefitted from the scheme as well as from the help desk service.

“Many people used to approach us asking help to repay the educational loan. Since the government had introduced a scheme that would benefit many, we just have to guide them. Through these help desks, we aim at reaching more people so that nobody should be troubled by not knowing about the scheme. In the meeting, many turned up which shows our initiative will be successful,” he said.

Mohanan said that the help desk will also individually help people to secure the benefit from the government.

As per the scheme, for loans below Rs 4 lakh [Non-Performing Asset (NPA) study loans] government would pay 60% of the amount and rest 40% have to be paid by the borrower. Loans above Rs 4 lakh, if they are not NPAs the government would pay back 90% of the borrowed amount.