State to set up camps in November to disburse loans for 23K+ beneficiaries

The state government will be organising a special campaign at all bank branches from November 2 to 10 with an aim to disburse loans for over 23,000 beneficiaries under West Bengal Student Credit Card Scheme (WBSCCS).

According to the state Higher Education department that carries out WBSCCS, as on October 18, 58793 cases have been sanctioned out of which loans were disbursed for 35,589 beneficiaries which account for 61 per cent of the sanctioned cases. The total amount of loan disbursed is over Rs 494 crore. Nineteen banks are presently on board for disbursement of loans under the scheme.

The balance 39 per cent cases are expected to be resolved at the camps from November 2 to 10. State’s chief secretary H K Dwivedi chaired a meeting on October 19 with banks to review the status and performance of WBSCCS.

The next day he held a meeting with the district magistrates and gave necessary instructions. Banks were given a target of sanctioning 60,000 pending eligible applications under the scheme which comes under MSME department. Principal Secretaries of Higher Education and MSME Departments were present in the meeting.

Under the WBSCCS, a student can obtain a maximum loan of Rs 10 lakhs at 4 per cent per annum simple interest from the State Cooperative Bank and its affiliated Central Cooperative Banks and District Central Cooperative Banks and public/ private sector banks. One percent interest concession will be provided to the borrower if the interest is fully serviced during the study period.

Meanwhile, eligible applicants can take a loan of up to Rs 5 lakhs to start a business. Seed money of up to Rs 25,000 will be provided by the government.

The scheme was announced by the state government in the state budget for 2023-24 that was presented in February in the state legislative assembly. The target of coverage is 2 lakh youth per year.