NT Reporter
Panaji
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Tuesday announced that education loans for students from Other Backward Communities (OBCs), Economically Weaker Sections (EWSs) and minority communities, as well as Persons with Disabilities (PwDs), will be available at an interest rate of 4 per cent with effect from August 11, subject to the prescribed family income limit.
Sawant also asked eligible students pursuing higher education outside Goa, to contact the respective commissions regarding the scheme.
Incidentally, under the Mukhyamantri Bahujan Utkarsha Yojana, eligible beneficiaries can avail
education loans of up to
Rs 25 lakh.
The Chief Minister was speaking at a city programme under the particular scheme, reaffirming government’s commitment to the welfare and socio-economic empowerment of the Scheduled Castes (SC) and Other Backward Classes (OBC), in the presence of Social Welfare Minister Subhash Phaldesai, Water Resource Minister Subhash Shirodkar, and chairman of the Goa State SC and OBC Finance and Development Corporation, Dayanand Mandrekar.
Sawant also distributed Gruha Sudhar assistance orders and loan closure/ no-dues certificates to the beneficiaries.
Maintaining that small loans should not become
a lifelong burden, he stated that with this distribution, a total of 492 beneficiaries have received loan closure/ no-dues certificates under the scheme,
thus enabling hundreds of families to become free from long-pending loan liabilities.
The Chief Minister mentioned that guided by the principle of Antyodaya, the government remains committed to delivering targeted welfare, quality education, financial empowerment and livelihood opportunities, ensuring inclusive development for every section of the society.
