Student Credit Card: Over Rs 48.72 cr disbursed to 4,344 pupils, says Min

Kolkata: The cooperative banks in the state have made a significant contribution to the disbursement of loans to students for the Student Credit Card (SCC) scheme, the gazette notification for which was made on June 30, 2021.

“Over Rs 48.72 crore has already been disbursed to 4,344 students from the cooperative banks till January 31 this year against SCC. The applications for SCC of 11,225 students have been approved and the loan amount approved is to the tune of Rs 158.48 crore,” State Cooperation minister Arup Roy said at the Assembly in response to a query from Trinamool Congress MLA Sukanta Pal from Amta, Howrah.

In the initial stage after the launch, the nationalised banks were reluctant in providing loans against SCC and the government had to hold several meetings to bring these banks on board for loans against SCC. So, during that time the cooperative banks provided loans.

The SCC scheme is designed to support students to pursue secondary, higher secondary, madrasah, undergraduate and postgraduate studies, including professional degrees and other equivalent courses in any school, madrasah, college, university and other affiliated institutes within and outside India.

Students studying in various coaching institutions for appearing in different competitive examinations like Engineering, Medical, Law, IAS, IPS, WBCS etc, can also avail of the loan under this scheme.

A student from West Bengal can obtain a maximum loan of Rs. 10 lakhs at 4 per cent per annum simple interest. The loan can also be used for purchasing laptops, books, tabs etc or educational travel and research.