Haryana's Minister of Women and Child Development, Kamlesh Dhanda, has announced the implementation of the "Education Loan Scheme" to boost higher education for women and girls. The state government, through the Haryana Women Development Corporation, has committed to advancing this initiative to facilitate women and girls in pursuing higher education. Under this scheme, a subsidy of INR 26.33 crore has been provided to 10,930 women and girls from the year 2008-09 till date.
Minister Dhanda highlighted the challenges faced by women in accessing higher education due to limited resources, exorbitant fees, and the burden of interest on educational loans from banks. To alleviate this, the Education Loan Scheme offers a 5% subsidy on the interest rate of educational loans. For example, if a bank provides an education loan at an interest rate of 9.50%, the corporation subsidizes it by 5%, resulting in a beneficiary paying only 4.50% interest.
Residents of Haryana and daughters/women of government employees serving in the Haryana government, currently pursuing education domestically or internationally, are eligible to avail the benefits of this scheme. Minister Dhandha emphasized that the education loan will be provided through the bank's education loan scheme. The application process requires documents such as the application form, bank approval letter, educational institution's letter, permanent residence proof of Haryana, identity proof for government employees, family identification document, Aadhar card, and bank statement details.