Udupi: Interest-free education loan will be extended to at least 5,000 students belonging to minority communities to pursue professional education this year, said Masood Faujdar, Chairman of Karnataka Minorities Development Corporation.
He was addressing the press meet at Don Bosco Hall, Mother of Sorrows Church premises, Udupi here on Sunday, January 25.
Stating that under the scheme 2,000 students have benefited in the year 2014-15, he said that the corporation has received more funds, and programmes are being organised to create awareness among the students about the benefits.
“The state government had sanctioned Rs 172 crore to the corporation last year. This year, we plan to seek at least Rs 500 crore. The loan facility will be extended to another 1,000 students who have already joined professional courses this year. Students from families, whose annual income does not exceed Rs 4.5 lakh can avail the benefit.”
This year, to avoid inconvenience to the students, the corporation has already deposited a corpus with the CET Board. The procedure of depositing a DD for the fee amount and claiming refund has been scrapped. The beneficiaries need to pay a service charge of just two per cent of the loan amount, he said.
After the press meet, Masood Faujdar inaugurated the awareness programme for PUC students. Managing Director of the corporation Mohammed Saleem, Udupi MLA Pramod Madhwaraj, Karnataka Soaps and Detergent Chairperson Veronica Corenelio, ZP member Ida Gibba D’Souza, MP Moydinabba, Mary D’Souza, Walter Cyril Pinto, Dr Gerald Pinto and others were present.
