Students who do not qualify for fee concessions under SC, ST, OBC will now get financial help
Students who do not qualify for fee concessions under SC, ST, OBC will now get financial help
MUMBAI: The Ministry of Higher and Technical Education is working on a proposal to facilitate easy loans through financial institutions for economically backward students who do not qualify for fee concessions under categories like Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST) or Other Backward Classes (OBCs).
The proposal, still in its initial stages, was to be incorporated in the new comprehensive Bill on education. The Bill is supposed to redefine parameters of reservation quota and lay down guidelines for fee structures in professional colleges, including unaided private institutions. The Maharashtra Education Bill is likely to be tabled in the Monsoon session of the state Legislature beginning from July 3.
A senior officer in the Education Ministry said, “The ministry is already in discussion with financial institutions to help meritorious students who cannot afford professional education because of economic backwardness.”
According to the draft proposal, the state will reach an agreement with committed financial institutions for loans, which will be repaid by the student after graduation.
The government was also holding discussions to see if such students could enter into working agreement with technical or medical private institutions who could then guarantee the financial institutions the return of the loan amount, the official said.
Interestingly, the subsidies to be given to students under the reservation category were left to the discretion of respective departments. Education Minister, Dilip Walse-Patil, said: “My ministry can only issue the notification for reservation in private colleges. But the decision on how much fee concession should be provided to students falling under these categories will have to be taken by the Ministry of Social Welfare, Ministry of Tribal Welfare and departments dealing with OBCs, respectively.”
Relook at reservation
The reservation row has made the government take a re-look at economically backward students
Fee subsidies to SC, ST, OBCs under reservation category is still undecided. The Education Ministry has said it is for the Ministry of Social Welfare and Tribal Ministry to decide
The government is caught between the pro- and anti-reservation lobby. It admits it will have a difficult time in fixing the reservation quota in private professional colleges.
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