Students' Credit Card: State directs authorities to expedite process of loan

Kolkata: The state government has directed all concerned authorities to ensure that the process of ensuring education loan under Students' Credit Card gets expedited.

This comes when Chief Secretary HK Dwivedi held a high level meeting with representatives of banks, cooperative banks, district magistrates and top brass of the state education department on Saturday.

It needs mention that the state government is even contemplating to shift all banks accounts of its departments and undertakings from the banks those are depriving students from availing the benefits of education loan under the Students' Credit Card scheme launched by the Bengal government. The state government takes the "strict move" after observing that most of the private banks are not participating in the "flagship programmes of the state government like extending education loan to students under West Bengal Student Credit Card Scheme, financial support to self help groups (SHGs) and issuing Kisan Credit Cards (KCC) to farmers".

Till now 92000 applications have been received for education loan under the scheme. The banks were told that more stress need to be given to help students get loan to undertake professional courses, sources said.

The Chief Secretary also held another meeting in regards to Pathasathi scheme and directed DMs to construct bus stops near every Pathasathi's and Karmatirthas.