Education Ministry Makes Admission into IITs Easier for Financially Weaker People

The Education Ministry has decided to provide education loans at lower interest rates to students seeking admission into IITs, whose families have an income of lower than 9 lakhs per annum.
Officials in the Prakash Javadekar-led HRD Ministry said while the fee for these institutes was hiked recently, the government also wants that students and their parents not face any hardship. The proposal will cover students admitted to both the undergraduate and the five-year integrated degree programme. The financial support on interest will be applicable for a period of five years. The education loan will, however, cover only the tuition fee payable by the student.
Under earlier HRD Minister, Smriti Irani, the fee was hiked from 90,000 to 2 lakhs. However, students belonging to SC, ST, OBC, specially-abled categories were offered a renunciation. Officials said that the scheme will help those who doesn’t come under the categories, but still may need assistance to cope with the increased fee.
The fee hike comes into effect from this academic year, when the new batch joins.