Misinformation in media on students loan: LG

Delhi Lt Governor Anil Baijal on Wednesday said his advice given to the AAP government on higher education students loan scheme was misconstrued as disapproval and this misinformation was spread in the media.

The Lt Governor said this in a letter to Delhi Education Minister Manish Sisodia, a statement from the Lt Governor's office here said.

On Friday, Sisodia had said that Baijal has blocked the Arvind Kejriwal government's students loan scheme and asked them to seek the Centre's opinion on the issue.

The Minister said it would delay the disbursal of loans by two to four years. "There is political enmity with us, but what's the enmity with Delhi's children?" he asked.

On Wednesday, the official statement said: "Given the complexity of the matter, the Lt Governor had earlier advised on consultations with the Ministry concerned to ensure sustainability of the proposed scheme."

"It is unfortunate that his advice to help make this initiative more robust in the interest of students of Delhi was misconstrued as disapproval and this misinformation was spread all over the media," the statement added.

In the letter to Sisodia, Baijal suggested that a negative list of courses and institutes would help in blacklisting courses not benefiting students for getting jobs.

The Lt Governor also said that for the convenience of students, the Education Department should link the loan scheme with an online portal, wherein students can get information about loan schemes of different banks and apply online through a single window.

He also talked about increasing Non-Performing Assets in educational loans and stressed that any students loan scheme should meet the twin criteria of 'need-based' and 'generally available'.

Baijal said the government is free to proceed with the scheme if it has already taken care of the issues and incorporated them in the scheme.

"If not, the department should be advised to incorporate some of these safeguards that are in the interest of the students of Delhi," the statement said.

--IANS

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