Patna: Demand for the student credit card scheme was not as popular as the government expected, chief minister Nitish Kumar conceded in the Assembly on Tuesday.
The scheme, part of Nitish's seven resolves, was launched on Gandhi Jayanti of 2016.
"One of the reasons why there are very few applications (for the scheme) is that taking loan in Bihar is considered a stigma," Nitish said on Tuesday. He had intervened in a reply given by the treasury bench to a question posed by RJD MLA Lalit Yadav, who said disbursal of student credit cards was less than 2 per cent of its target last year.
The student credit card gives students, from weaker sections aspiring for higher education, up to Rs 4 lakh with the government acting as guarantor for the return of loan and interest.
However, banks have been charged with showing little interest in implementation of the scheme with the number of applicants trickling down. The government also came in for sharp criticism for stopping the previous student scholarship programme on the pretext of launching the credit card scheme.
Deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi, who was in opposition at the time the scheme was launched, had taunted the scheme saying there was a difference between loan and scholarship.
Nitish on Tuesday said the credit card scheme was introduced to increase the gross enrolment ratio of Bihar which was just 13.9 per cent in 2016. "We wanted to take this ratio to 30 per cent and allow students to opt for higher education. But despite giving guarantee to banks for on the loan and interest, banks have not shown much interest. For every Rs 100 loan from banks, we are ensuring the return of Rs 160. I thought it would be better to take banks off the scheme and start a financial corporation which will give the student credit cards," he added, recalling that during the 2015 Assembly election campaign, the scheme had drawn maximum applause from the electorate.
Nitish also said there would be a provision for the corporation to waive off the loan for student credit cards. This scheme, he said, would be launched in the next financial year.
