Sharp drop in beneficiaries of Centre’s education loan scheme

NEW DELHI: A total of 75,417 students have benefited from the central government’s interest subsidy scheme on educational loans in 2019-20, the education minister informed the Parliament on Monday, during its budget session 2021.

However, over the last three years, there has been a drastic decrease in the number of students who have availed benefits of the Central Sector Interest Subsidy Scheme, or CSIS.

In 2017-18, over 1.32 lakh students benefited from the scheme. The number of beneficiaries has decreased by 57,408 students, stated the official document furnished in the Parliament budget session 2021.

The scheme, launched in 2009, targets students from economically backward sections pursuing higher education in professional or technical courses.

The scheme aims to assist students from economically weaker sections with an annual income up to Rs 4.5 lakh to take education loans without collateral. The central government provides an interest subsidy on education loan up to Rs 7.5 lakh.

Plus, the budget allocation for higher education has also gone down from Rs 39,466 crore in 2020-21 to Rs 38,350 crore for the upcoming financial year.

Number of students benefited from CSIS

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