Goa: Over 1.5L sign for TMC's 'Yuva Shakti Card' scheme

KOLKATA: All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) leaders in their official twitter account posted on Thursday that more than 1.5 lakh youths have signed for the 'Yuva Shakti Card' that was promised by AITC if they come to power in Goa.

The card will provide loan upto Rs 20 lakh to the Goan youth at an interest of 4 per cent. Youths between 18-45 years are eligible for the scheme.

According to senior TMC leaders this is a unique scheme and we are happy that within a few days so many youths have registered for the scheme. The scheme will not only benefit the youths, but it will also empower them to grow more.

Few days back after the announcement of the scheme, Goa TMC leader Kiran Kandolkar said that youth made up for nearly half of the state' population. "The population between the age group of 18 to 45 in Goa is 7.5 lakh. A lot of times they cannot pursue higher education because the financial condition of their parents is not very good.

Sometimes the parents mortgage their house to take the loan and the students carry that weight through their education. Sometimes ancestral houses are in the name of different members of the family and mortgaging the house for one child's education becomes difficult.

To take a loan people have to find someone to stand surety. But in this scheme, there will be no collateral. The government will be the guarantor," he said.

According to TMC leaders, the scheme is aimed at youth either wanting to pursue higher education or seeking financial support to set up or strengthen their businesses. The scheme does not have any restriction on where the student can pursue higher education or set up their business as long as the person availing the scheme is Goan.

This means Goan students wanting to pursue education abroad or in other states can also avail the universal coverage scheme that has no income cut-off.