Haryana Government to bear three months interest on education loans by students

The Haryana government will bear three months' interest on education loans taken by thousands of students in the state, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar announced.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has announced that the state government will pay three months' interest on education loans that have been taken by thousands of students in the state. 

“Haryana government will pay the interest of three months of all those students who are completing their education this year or who have already completed their education in the previous year but have not been able to start their jobs or business due to this coronavirus pandemic. As many as 36,000 students will be benefitted,” the Chief Minister said during his television address to the people of the state.

The burden on the ex-chequer for this is estimated to be about Rs 40 crore. The state government will also bear two percent of the total interest on loans of up to Rs 50,000 under the ‘Shishu Yojana’ of the Centre’s Mudra Loan Scheme, an official statement here quoted the chief minister as saying.

“They will not be required to give any type of collateral for this loan. Under this scheme, loan will be provided to 5 lakh people in the state,” Khattar said.

To help poor people start their small business, he said, the state government will provide the loans up to Rs 15,000 to them with a nominal two percent rate of interest. He said these will be given under the Differential Rate of Interest (DRI) scheme, in which banks charge four percent interest. Of this, two percent interest will be borne by the state government, he said. 

This has been done keeping in mind that economic activity has been limited for the last three months due to coronavirus outbreak. As a result, not only the family incomes have been affected but the government’s revenue has also come down drastically, he said.