Patna: The Bihar govt on Friday clarified that students would continue to get education loans of up to Rs 4 lakh under the Bihar Student Credit Card Scheme with the Bihar State Education Finance Corporation providing up to Rs 2 lakh and scheduled commercial banks providing the remaining Rs 2 lakh to Rs 4 lakh. Earlier, the corporation itself provided loans of up to Rs 4 lakh.The clarification came a day after Jan Suraaj functionaries alleged at a press conference that the Student Credit Card scheme had been diluted and the maximum loan amount reduced from Rs 4 lakh to Rs 2 lakh.According to a department release, Rajiv Raushan, secretary, higher education, said the change was aimed at expanding the scope of financial assistance for higher education. The scheme has also been linked with the Pradhan Mantri Uchchatar Shiksha Protsahan Yojana, PM Vidyalaxmi portal and banks. Students can avail education loans of up to Rs 10 lakh through PM Vidyalaxmi.The department said expenditure approval for the scheme had risen from Rs 886 crore in 2025-26 to Rs 950 crore in 2026-27, an increase of Rs 64 crore. It said the figures showed financial assistance had not been reduced but expanded.
