GJ-STUDENTS-FINANCIAL-COPS

The Gujarat government Tuesday

widened benefits offered to students from the non-reserved

category by raising annual income limits and providing more

assistance in terms of educational loans.

To avail benefits of schemes offered by the Gujarat

Unreserved Educational and Economical Development Corporation,

the annual income limit has been raised from Rs 3 lakh to Rs

4.5 lakh, Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel said.

The state-run corporation was set up last year to

provide financial assistance to students from non-reserved

categories, including help for tuition, coaching, food and

competitive exam preparations.

It also helps students from unreserved category for

education, employment, study abroad, and for self-employment.

Also, to avail up loans of up to Rs 15 lakh to study

abroad, the annual income limit of the student's kin has been

raised from Rs 4.5 lakh to Rs 6 lakh, he said.

The loan, which was earlier provided only to pursue

medical education in foreign countries, will now be given to

students to pursue any post-graduate course or higher

programmes abroad, he added.

Patel said the scope of Rs 10-lakh loan provided to

pursue medical and technical education in institutes in

Gujarat has been further extended.

Now, students can avail loan facility even for

admission to institutes outside Gujarat, Patel said, adding

that, additionally, students can avail educational loans to

study in national institutions like IIM, IIT, NID, NIRMA, NIFT

among others.

The corporation was set up last year to counter

demands made by Patidar community under the leadership of

Hardik Patel to provide assistance to 58 castes in the states

that are not entitled to any reservation benefits.

The state government had last year announced several

schemes to benefit students from this category by offering

assistance in terms of jobs and education.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)