{"id":43302,"date":"2025-11-08T12:50:49","date_gmt":"2025-11-08T07:20:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=43302"},"modified":"2025-11-10T16:40:19","modified_gmt":"2025-11-10T11:10:19","slug":"cabinet-approves-3600-crore-pm-vidyalaxmi-scheme","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/cabinet-approves-3600-crore-pm-vidyalaxmi-scheme\/","title":{"rendered":"Cabinet Approves \u20b93,600 Crore PM Vidyalaxmi Scheme"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><strong>What\u2019s in today\u2019s article?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>About PM Vidyalaxmi Scheme<\/li>\n<li>Objectives of the Scheme<\/li>\n<li>Key Features of the Scheme<\/li>\n<li>Supplementary Government Schemes<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>About PM Vidyalaxmi Scheme<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The Union Cabinet, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has introduced the <strong>PM Vidyalaxmi Scheme<\/strong>\u2014a new Central Sector initiative aimed at supporting meritorious students financially so they can pursue higher education without economic constraints.<\/li>\n<li>This scheme is rooted in the <strong>National Education Policy, 2020<\/strong>, which advocates for financial assistance to deserving students across both public and private Higher Education Institutions (HEIs).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Objectives of the Scheme<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The PM Vidyalaxmi Scheme seeks to:\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Ensure Financial Inclusion in Education<\/strong>: Enable meritorious students to pursue higher education without financial hurdles.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Support Top Educational Institutions<\/strong>: Applicable only to top-quality HEIs as per the <a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/what-is-national-institutional-ranking-framework-nirf\/\" target=\"_blank\">National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF)<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Provide Transparent and Digital Access<\/strong>: Use a fully digital, transparent, and student-friendly platform for loan processing and management.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Key Features of the Scheme<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Loan Availability<\/strong>:\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Eligibility<\/strong>: Any student who secures admission to a Quality Higher Education Institution (QHEI) is eligible.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Loan Terms<\/strong>: Collateral-free and guarantor-free loans will be offered through banks and financial institutions, covering the full amount of tuition and other course-related expenses.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Institutional Coverage<\/strong>: Applies to institutions ranked in the NIRF top 100 (both government and private) and state government HEIs ranked in the 101-200 bracket, as well as all central government institutions.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Coverage Scope<\/strong>: In the initial phase, 860 QHEIs qualify, potentially benefiting over <strong>22 lakh students<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Credit Guarantee Support<\/strong>:\n<ul>\n<li>For loans up to <strong>\u20b97.5 lakhs<\/strong>, a <strong>75% credit guarantee<\/strong> on the outstanding amount is provided, encouraging banks to make education loans accessible to more students.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Interest Subsidy<\/strong>:\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Eligibility<\/strong>: Students with an annual family income of up to <strong>\u20b98 lakhs<\/strong> and not benefiting from other government scholarships or interest subvention schemes.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Subsidy Terms<\/strong>: A <strong>3% interest subvention<\/strong> on loans up to \u20b910 lakhs during the moratorium period.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Beneficiary Priority<\/strong>: Preference is given to students in government institutions and technical\/professional courses.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Budget and Reach<\/strong>:\n<ul>\n<li>An allocation of \u20b93,600 crore has been set for 2024-25 to 2030-31, targeting interest subvention benefits for <strong>1 lakh students each year<\/strong> and <strong>7 lakh students<\/strong> over the scheme\u2019s duration.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Unified Digital Platform<\/strong>:\n<ul>\n<li>A <strong>\u201cPM Vidyalaxmi\u201d portal<\/strong> managed by the Department of Higher Education will provide a streamlined application process for education loans and interest subvention.<\/li>\n<li>Payments will be made via <strong>E-vouchers and Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)<\/strong> wallets, ensuring a secure and efficient transfer of funds.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Supplementary Government Schemes<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The PM Vidyalaxmi Scheme complements two key schemes under the <strong>PM-USP (Prime Minister\u2019s Unique Scholarship Program)<\/strong>:\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Central Sector Interest Subsidy Scheme (CSIS)<\/strong>: Offers full interest subvention during the moratorium for loans up to \u20b910 lakhs to students from families with annual incomes up to \u20b94.5 lakhs, specifically for technical\/professional courses at approved institutions.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Credit Guarantee Fund Scheme for Education Loans (CGFSEL)<\/strong>: Supports education loans with a guarantee fund.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Together, PM Vidyalaxmi and PM-USP form a <strong>comprehensive financial support framework<\/strong> for eligible students, allowing them to access quality higher education and technical training in premier institutions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Q1. How many NEP have been introduced in India?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>There are three National Education Policies (NEP) in India&#8217;s history:<\/p>\n<p>1968: The first NEP was introduced by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi<\/p>\n<p>1986: The second NEP was introduced by Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi<\/p>\n<p>2020: The third NEP was introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Q2.What is NIRF?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>NIRF stands for National Institutional Ranking Framework, which is a system for ranking higher education institutions in India. The Ministry of Education launched NIRF in 2015.<\/p>\n<p><strong>News: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/union-cabinet-approves-pm-vidyalaxmi-scheme-for-students-to-avail-easy-loans-for-higher-education\/article68836215.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Cabinet approves PM-Vidyalaxmi scheme for higher education<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>PM Vidyalaxmi scheme is aimed at supporting meritorious students financially.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":43303,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-43302","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43302"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43302\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}