Padho Pardesh
Padho Pardesh- scheme of interest subsidy on educational loans for overseas studies for the students belonging to the minority communities.
The Prime Minister’s New 15 Point Programme for the Welfare of Minorities was announced in June, 2006. It provides that the schemes for scholarships for meritorious students from minority communities will be formulated and implemented. The scheme of Interest Subsidy on educational loans for overseas studies will promote the educational advancement of students from minority communities.
Objective: The objective of the scheme is to award interest subsidy to meritorious students belonging to economically weaker sections of notified minority communities so as to provide them better opportunities for higher education abroad and enhance their employability.
Scope: This is a Central Sector Scheme to provide interest subsidy to the student belonging to the communities declared as minority communities in terms of section 2 (c) of National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992, on the interest payable for the period of the moratorium for the Education Loans under the Scheme of Interest subsidy on Educational Loans for Overseas Studies to pursue approved courses of studies abroad at Masters and Ph.D levels.
Conditions For Interest Subsidy:
i) The Scheme is applicable for higher studies abroad. The interest Subsidy shall be linked with the existing Educational Loan Scheme of the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) and restricted to students enrolled for courses at Masters, M.Phil, and Ph.D levels.
ii) The interest subsidy under the scheme shall be available to the eligible students only once, either for Masters or Ph.D. levels. Interest subsidy shall not be available to those students who either discontinued the course mid-stream, due to any reason, or those who are expelled from the institutions on disciplinary or academic grounds.
iii) If a student violates any condition of the scheme, the subsidy will be discontinued forthwith.
iv) If a student is found to have obtained the subsidy by false statement/ certificates, the subsidy will be withdrawn/canceled forthwith and the amount of the subsidy paid shall be recovered with panel interest, apart from taking criminal action as per law. The students obtaining benefits under this Scheme shall not be given the interest subsidy if he gives up Indian citizenship during the tenure of the loan.
vi) The designated bank will maintain a separate account and records relating to the funds received from the ministry and these will be subject to inspection/ audit by the officers of the Ministry, or any other agency designated by the Ministry and C & AG.
vii) The fund for interest subsidy from the 2nd year onwards will be released to the designated Bank after receiving the utilization certificate for the earlier releases as per provisions of GFR.
viii) The designated Bank shall place all relevant details of financial and physical achievements on its website and implement the scheme as per the Memorandum of understanding to be signed between the designated Bank and Ministry of Minority Affairs.
ix) The designated Bank will ensure that the students from the minority communities, who may also belong to SC/ ST/ OBC category, do not avail of interest subsidy from other sources for the same purpose.
x) The designated Bank will lay down the detailed procedure for processing and sanctioning of interest subsidy to eligible students in consultation with the Ministry of Minority Affairs.
xi) The scheme will be evaluated at regular intervals by the Ministry or any other agency designated by the Ministry and the cost of the evaluation study will be borne by the Ministry.
xii) The terms and conditions of the scheme can be changed at any time at the discretion of the Ministry of Minority Affairs to improve the procedure and achieve more effective implementation. However, there should not be financial implications.
Eligibility: i) The student should have secured admission in the approved courses at Masters, M.Phil or Ph.D levels abroad for the courses shown at Para-13.
ii) He/ She should have availed loan from a scheduled bank under the Education Loan Scheme of the Indian Banks Association (IBA) for the purpose.
Income Ceiling:
i) Total income from all sources of the employed candidate or his/ her parents/ guardians in case of the unemployed candidate shall not exceed Rs. 6.00 lakh per annum.
ii) Income certificate should be submitted from the notified authority in the State/ Union Territory.
Recomendatory Committee:
(i) Recommendatory Committee headed by Joint Secretary in charge of the Scheme with representatives of Finance Division, representative of Nodal Bank and concerned Director/Deputy Secretary as convener will examine and recommend the applications for the award of interest subsidy on a quarterly basis.
(ii) To the extent possible, the benefit of the Interest Subsidy will be given to notified minority communities in the ratio of their population.
(iii) Preference will be given to the girl candidates.
Rate Of Interest Subsidy:
(i) Under the scheme, interest payable by the students availing of the education loans of the IBA for the period of moratorium (i.e. course period, plus one year or six months after getting job, whichever is earlier) as prescribed under the Education Loan Scheme of the IBA, shall be borne by the Government of India.
(ii) After the period of moratorium is over, the interest on the outstanding loan amount shall be paid by the student, in accordance with the existing Educational Loan Scheme as may be amended from time to time.
Implementing Agencies: The scheme will be implemented by the designated Bank as per MoU between the Bank and the Ministry of Minority Affairs.
Administrative Expenses:
(i) A provision not exceeding 3% of the annual budget allocation for the scheme will be made to meet the administrative and allied costs viz. expenditure of the Ministry for office equipment including computers and accessories, advertisements, engagement of personnel, etc.
(ii) This provision will also be used for evaluation and monitoring of the scheme, through outside reputed institutions/ agencies engaged by the Ministry of Minority Affairs, Government of India. The administrative cost of the Bank will be shared as per provision in the MoU.
Monitoring & Transparency:
(i) The Ministry of Minority Affairs shall monitor the performance of the scheme.
(ii) For this purpose, a web-enabled monitoring mechanism shall be put in place by the designated Bank.
(iii) The Designated Nodal Bank will be required to furnish quarterly financial and physical progress reports to the Ministry.
(iv) The designated Nodal Bank shall maintain year-wise details of the students receiving the scholarship, indicating institute, location of the institute,
class, gender, new or renewal, permanent address, and parents’ address.
(v) Designated Nodal Bank shall place relevant physical and financial details on their official website.
Evaluation: The monitoring of the financial and physical performance of the scheme will be periodically evaluated by assigning evaluation/ impact studies to
reputed institutions/ agencies by the Ministry of Minority Affairs, Government of India.