Kalinga Sikshya Sathi Yojana (KSSY) | Educational loan Scheme Odisha
Kalinga Sikshya Sathi Yojana (KSSY) is a unique educational scheme has been launched by the Govt. of Odisha on 27th June 2016, under the leadership of Hon’ble CM of Odisha, Shri N. Patnaik. This scheme deals with providing education loan to the students of Odisha at a very minimal rate so that they can continue higher studies. Higher education has become a far reach these days for the students who belong to middle to lower income groups as the course fees often range to several lakh. Hence the Kalinga Sikshya Sathi Yojana will prove beneficial to those students as this scheme is offering the lowest rate of interest on education loan, available presently. The Chief Minister has announced that this scheme is dedicated to the Biju Patnaik or Biju Babu. The Odisha Govt. has allocated a corpus amount of Rs. 500 crore for this educational loan scheme.
Kalinga Sikshya Sathi Yojana (KSSY) Details
| Sl. No. | Fields | Related Data |
| 1 | Name of scheme | Kalinga Sikshya Sathi Yojana |
| 2 | Date of launch | 27th June 2016 |
| 3 | Interest rate of education loan | 1 % p.a. |
| 4 | Nature of beneficiaries | Lower income groups, SC/ST/OBC, Women, etc. |
| 5 | Maximum loan limit | Rs. 10 lakh |
| 6 | Annual family income limit to join the scheme | Rs. 4.5 lakh per annum. |
| 7 | Budget allocation for the scheme | Rs. 500 crore |
What is the rate of interest of education loan under Kalinga Sikshya Sathi Yojana?
The Odisha Govt. has declared that the rate of interest will be 1 (one) per cent per annum for the needy students who want to pursue higher studies. This education loan scheme is one of its kind and the rate of interest applicable is no match to other educational loan scheme available at present. At present the banks and financial institutions which offer education loan to students charge a floating compound interest of 12 – 13 per cent per annum. So the overall financial burden is very high as the beneficiaries need to pay very high interest amount on the loaned principal. Hence the 1 per cent interest rate education loan scheme named the KSSY will prove beneficial to those students whose families would not have afforded to take the high interest educational loans.
Courses for which educational loans can be taken under Kalinga Sikshya Sathi Yojana?
The education loan with the interest rate of 1 per cent can be availed for pursuing any professional course like Medicine, Engineering, Business management, Hotel management, Nursing, Law, Fashion technology, etc. These technical and professional courses apart from the regular B Sc or BA courses needs higher course fees as well as studying costs. Generally the students apply for education loan for pursuing these courses after their HS level or graduation. These higher study professional courses were only a dream for the poor and lower middle class students as they couldn’t afford the high course fees and the banks did not sanctioned their loan requests easily.
Kalinga Sikshya Sathi Yojana nature of beneficiaries
The KSSY scheme is launched for a target audience of poor, backward, low income group students which also include the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled tribes of the state. This scheme will provide fast and easy education loan to students of the state who are not capable of bearing the expenditures of their higher studies. Special emphasis will be given to the women candidates of the state. The banks and financial institutions are generally hesitant to offer education loans to the students of the low income group families. But the KSSY scheme will not only be beneficial to those students, but also will be a great relief on the loan interest which is kept at a nominal rate of 1 per cent per annum only.
Eligibility for the Kalinga Sikshya Sathi Yojana
To become eligible to get education loan under the KSSY policy of Odisha Government, a student must meet some basic eligibility criteria. First of all, the student under whose name, the education loan will be sanctioned must be a domicile of the state of Odisha. The second and the most important condition of eligibility for this scheme is that the student must belong to such a family whose net annual income must not exceed Rs. 4.5 lakh per year. So students belonging to families of higher annual income than the mentioned limit are not eligible for this scheme.
Moratorium period of the loans
Generally, the moratorium period of education loans varies from 6 months to 2 years depending on banks. But the KSSY has risen this moratorium period of the education loan to 4 – 5 years. This will prove to be very beneficial to the candidates as they will not to hurry to get a job just after completion of their course so that loan deductions can be started.
Maximum limit of Kalinga Sikshya Sathi Yojana education loan
The Odisha Govt. has set the maximum limit of education loan under the Kalinga Sikshya Sathi Yojana to Rs. 10 lakh. Most courses, be it in the private educational institutions can be covered with this loan amount. One will be sanctioned the loan amount as per the fees structure of the course.
Update –
25/8/2018
Under the Kalinga Shiksha Yojana, students will be able to attain education loan from banks. State Education Department has announced that borrowers will have to pay interest at only 1%. Early the scheme was reserved for those candidates who were pursuing medical, engineering, and management. But recent announcements suggest that students from all academic courses will get a loan of 10 lakhs.
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