A web-based portal viz. Vidya
Lakshmi (www.vidyalakshmi.co.in) was
launched on the occasion of Independence Day i.e. 15th August, 2015
for the benefit of students seeking Educational Loans. The Portal has been developed
and maintained by NSDL e-Governance Infrastructure Limited (NSDL e-Gov) under
the guidance of Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance,
Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development and
Indian Banks’ Association (IBA).
Earlier the Union Finance
Minister Shri Arun Jaitley in the Union Budget for 2015-16
inter-alia had proposed to set-up a fully IT based Student Financial Aid
Authority to administer and monitor Scholarship as well as Educational Loan
Schemes, through the Pradhan Mantri Vidya Lakshmi Karyakram (PMVLK) to ensure
that no student misses out on higher education for lack of funds. The launch of
the aforesaid Portal is a first step towards achieving this objective,
Vidya Lakshmi Portal is a
first of its kind portal providing single window for Students to access
information and make application for Educational Loans provided by Banks as
also Government Scholarships. The Portal has the following features:
·
Information about Educational Loan Schemes of Banks;
·
Common Educational Loan Application Form for Students;
·
Facility to apply to multiple Banks for Educational Loans;
·
Facility for Banks to download Students’ Loan Applications;
·
Facility for Banks to upload loan processing status;
·
Facility for Students to email grievances/queries relating to
Educational
·
Loans to Banks;
·
Dashboard facility for Students to view status of their loan application
and
·
Linkage to National Scholarship Portal for information and
application for
·
Government Scholarships.
So far, 13 Banks have
registered 22 Educational Loan Schemes on the Vidya Lakshmi Portal and 5 Banks
viz; SBI, IDBI Bank, Bank of India, Canara Bank & Union Bank of India have
integrated their system with the Portal for providing loan processing status to
students. This initiative aims to bring on board all Banks providing Educational
Loans. It is expected that students throughout the country will be benefited by
this initiative of the Government by making available a single window for access
to various Educational Loan Schemes of all Banks.
*****
DSM/KA