In the backdrop of the education loan melas being conducted by the district administrations in the region with the intent of providing equal opportunities for students to pursue higher education, there are indications that the initiative is being availed by students in self-financing colleges and to some extent by those in government-aided colleges.
The loan melas being conducted in different locations as part of the centenary year celebration of late Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, are mostly attracting students from self-finance colleges in considerable numbers, according to officials of nationalised banks.
As for the government colleges, the need for the loan does not arise as there is no fee, and the students belonging to socio-economic backward families also enjoy other benefits such as free bus travel, and scholarships.
In engineering colleges, a chunk of students get covered under the first-generation tuition fee concession scheme. During 2021-22, ₹353.34 crore was given to 1,46,559 students, and in 2022-23, a sum of ₹356.11 crore was sanctioned to benefit 1,45,695 students, as per official documents.
In the case of women’s college, students who secure admission after completing Plus Two in government schools additionally avail the utility of Pudumai Penn scheme (Moovalur Ramamirtham Ammaiyar Higher Education Assurance Scheme) of the Social Welfare Department that entitles them to ₹1,000. In Tiruppur, for instance, the need for students of government colleges hailing from poor families to go for education loans do not arise since they also undertake part-time work, M.R. Yezhili, Principal, LRG Government Girls College, said.
According to a principal of a private college in Coimbatore, students who find the fee structure to be high for certain programmes are provided with guidance to avail the education loan. They are, in particular, sensitised to the advantage of the one-year moratorium for repayment after completion of studies, he said.
