West Bengal Student Credit Card Scheme: All you need to know

The Student Credit Card Scheme, launched by the West Bengal government’s higher education department, enables students to take a soft loan of up to Rs 10 lakh for higher studies.

Here’s a ready reckoner.

WHO IS IT FOR?

The Student Credit Card Scheme is designed to support students who want to pursue secondary, higher secondary, undergraduate and postgraduate studies. These include professional degrees and other equivalent courses in any school, madrasa, college, university or other affiliated institutes in and outside India.

Students studying in various coaching institutions can also avail themselves of a loan to appear in competitive examinations such as engineering, medical, law and civil services examinations.

WHO CAN APPLY?

Applicants seeking loan under the scheme must be Indian nationals and residents of West Bengal for the past 10 years.

Students from Class X to those up to 40 years of age are eligible to apply for the scheme.

LOAN AMOUNT & INTEREST RATE

A student can get a soft loan of up to Rs 10 lakh at a simple interest of 4% per annum from the State Cooperative Bank, its affiliated Central Cooperative Banks, District Central Cooperative Banks and public/ private sector banks.

HOW AND WHEN TO REPAY

· Repayment period for any loan availed under this credit card will be 15 years, including the moratorium/ repayment holiday.

· The student or a parent/ legal guardian can repay the loan amount any time before the stipulated period of repayment. There will be no penalty or processing fee in case of early repayment.

· The borrower will get a 1% concession in interest if they have fully used the interest during their study period.

HOW TO APPLY?

· Go to the official website https://wbscc.wb.gov.in and follow the user manual (https://wbscc.wb.gov.in/assets/StudentManual.pdf)

DOCUMENTS YOU NEED

· Your colour photograph

· A colour photograph of your co-applicant / co-borrower

· Your Aadhar card

· Class X board registration certificate (in absence of Aadhaar)

· Guardian’s address proof

· Admission receipt

· Your PAN Card / undertaking if there is no PAN Card

· Guardian’s PAN Card / undertaking if there is no PAN Card

· Relevant page of the institute’s brochure / document with details of fees

EXPENSES TO BE COVERED

· Fees to be paid to school/ madrasa/ college/ university / professional institutes and competitive coaching institutes or for entrance examinations.

· Fees for accommodation in a hostel or as paying guest.

· Any deposit to be paid to the institution, library and laboratory.

· Cost of buying books, digital device and equipment.

· Other course-related expenses such as study tours, project work, thesis submission.

The WB government has asked authorities of schools, colleges and universities to organise camps every Monday to promote the credit card scheme, and has directed the education department to send a report on the number of students coming to these facilities.

According to reports, over 1,20,000 applications have been submitted under the programme till December 14 and, out of them, 50,000 have been sent to banks for approval. Banks have so far accepted around 6,000 applications. Some applications were rejected and returned to the district administrations. Chief secretary H K Dwivedi has already directed officials to set up a committee in each district to deal with the issue of loan denial.