The state government has so far spent Rs 2,000 crore to provide soft loans to 62,000 students under the student credit card scheme, chief minister Mamata Banerjee said today.
She was addressing the students and teachers at the completion of Students’ Week at Dhodhanyo auditorium this afternoon. She said every year on 8 January she will meet the students and the teachers on completion of the Students’ Week, which is held from 1-7 January.
Miss Banerjee said the student credit card has helped the student enormously. “Students will not have to ask their parents for financial support. Under the scheme they can get Rs 10 lakh as soft loan and the state government will be the guarantor.” Recalling her past, she said, “I lost my father when I got myself admitted to Jogamaya Devi College in the undergraduate level. I could not ask my mother to pay the college admission fee. So, I sold my gold chain to collect money to get admitted to the college. It is not a crime to be born in a poor family,” she remarked.
State education minister Bratya Basu, minister for women and child development and social welfare Dr Shashi Panja, youth affairs minister Aroop Biswas and state information and cultural affairs minister Indranil Sen attended the meeting.
Chief secretary BP Gopalika, home secretary Nandini Chakraborty, director general of police Rajeev Kumar and commissioner of police Vineet Goyal were present at the meeting.
Miss Banerjee said the state government will start an internship facility for the students. They will be given the opportunity to work in state government departments. It will be a one year certificate course and will receive Rs 10,000 as monthly stipend.
Miss Banerjee announced Yogyashree scheme for students belonging to the SC and ST categories. Under the scheme, they will get free coaching for preparing for exams like JEE and also for exams conducted by the state and Union Public Service Commission. For this purpose, altogether 96 centres will be set up across the state. She said though the Centre has stopped funding OBC scholarships, the state government is carrying on with this and in 2024 2.77 lakh OBC students will get scholarships.
The chief minister said under the Kanyashree I, II and II schemes, students are getting scholarships up to the post graduation level.
Coming down heavily on the private television channels, she said, “It is most unfortunate that these channels do not show the success of various schemes which have helped the students of our state immensely. Their sole business is to find fault with the state government.”
She asked the state education minister Bratya Basu to include two books, namely, Call to the Nation by Swami Vivekananda and Taruner Swapno by Netaji in the school curriculum. She said the state government has set up English medium schools and more will be set up in future. She urged the students not to neglect their mother tongue. “English is an international language and should be read but we should not neglect our mother tongue,” she said.
She urged the students to think positively and work with a positive mind. “Do not fill up your mind with negative thoughts. Be positive and study and work with a smiling face,” she advised the students. She wished all the students success in life.