Only 23 people availed education loan under Delhi government's scheme in 2018-19: Outcome budget

Only 23 people availed loans under the Delhi government’s Higher Education and Skill Development Guarantee Scheme in the last financial year, according to the outcome budget released by the AAP dispensation on Friday.

The government had expected 50 students would avail loan under the scheme.

“A corpus fund of Rs 15 crore has been deposited in Vijaya Bank as fixed deposit. Students are not interested in taking loans because they have to repay it. There are other schemes where the students are being given financial assistance and they are opting for it,” the government said.

The government had set a target of 200 applications, but it received 139 applications under the scheme in 2018-19.

The Higher Education and Skill Development Guarantee Scheme is for students who wish to pursue diploma or degree level courses or specified skill development courses in Delhi and have done their Class X and Class XII from Delhi.

For 2019-20, the government has set a target of installing CCTV cameras in 350 schools. The government installed 520 cameras in 130 schools in the last financial year, even though it had set a target of installing CCTV cameras in 100 schools.

Over 7.87 lakh students have benefitted from the city government’s Happiness Curriculum which was started last year for around eight lakh students from nursery up to Class 8 of all Delhi government schools.

The government’s scheme to have sports events and activities for Assembly constituencies did not take off. The government had set a target of having 30,000 participants for eight events in 70 Assembly constituencies in 2018-19 but the scheme did not take off. The reasons were not listed in the outcome budget.