Bhopal, September 05 (Pervez Bari): The Bharatiya Janata Party ruled Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mr. Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said that procedural reforms will be undertaken for making higher education loans available to talented students easily. Paucity of funds should not be allowed to come in the way of higher education.
Chief Minister Mr. Chouhan was reviewing progress of Higher Education Loan Guarantee Scheme at Mantralaya, the stte secretariat. Higher Education Minister Mr. Laxmikant Sharma and Chief Secretary Mr. Avani Vaish were present on the occasion. The meeting was informed that for the first time in the state, a target has been fixed to provide higher education loans worth Rs. 1500 crore to 60,000 students during the current fiscal.
He said that publicity of Higher Education Loan Guarantee Scheme should be undertaken at a wide scale. He said that maximum information about the scheme should be provided to students. Camps should be organised for students of class 12 for this purpose. Counselling of students should also be conducted.
Mr. Chouhan said that review of administrative arrangements for implementation of the scheme should be undertaken. Rules can be amended if it is required in the interest of students, he added.
During the review, dissatisfaction was expressed over the stance of banks over implementation of the scheme. Chief Minister Mr. Chouhan laid stress on increasing coordination between banks and concerning departments for implementing the scheme smoothly and as per target.
Higher Education and Technical Education Minister Mr. Laxmikant Sharma gave suggestions about practical reforms in Higher Education Loan Guarantee Scheme. (pervezbari@eth.net)