Lok Sabha Question No. 307 (STARRED), answered on 2018-08-08
Subject: Padho Pardesh Yojana
Ministry: MINORITY AFFAIRS
Asked by: RAJEEV SHANKARRAO SATAV, SUPRIYA SADANAND SULE

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF MINORITY AFFAIRS LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.*307 TO BE ANSWERED ON 08.08.2018

## PADHO PARDESH YOJANA

## *307     SHRI SATAV RAJEEV: SHRIMATI SUPRIYA SULE:

Will the Minister of MINORITY AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  launched  the  Padho  Pardesh  Yojana  to  provide  interest subsidy  on  educational  loans  for  overseas  studies  for  students  belonging  to  minority communities and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether the objectives/targets  of  the  said  Yojana  have  been  achieved,  if  so,  the  details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;
- (c) the number of minority students benefited and the subsidy given under the Yojana since its inception;
- (d) whether the Government has initiated any programme to propagate the Yojana to create awareness  among  minority  students,  if  so,  the  details  thereof  along  with  the  financial allocation made for this Yojana during the last three years and the current year; and
- (e) the other steps taken by the Government to promote overseas studies and research among minority students?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF MINORITY AFFAIRS (SHRI MUKHTAR ABBAS NAQVI)

- (a) to (e):  A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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## Statement referred to in reply to parts (a) to (e) of Lok Sabha Starred Question Number *307 for 08/08/2018  asked  by  SHRI  SATAV  RAJEEV:  SHRIMATI  SUPRIYA  SULE,  regarding  'Padho Pardesh Yojana'.

(a): Yes, Madam. The Ministry has been  implementing  Scheme of ' Padho Pardesh-Interest Subsidy on educational loans for overseas studies' with  the  objective  to award interest subsidy to meritorious students  belonging  to  economically  weaker  sections  of  notified  minority  communities  to  provide  them better opportunities for higher education abroad and enhance their employability.

The scheme has been revised during 2017-18 and physical target as well as financial allocation under the scheme  has  been  increased  considerably.  For  greater  transparency  and  representation  of  each  minority community, state-wise and community-wise quota has been allocated which is inter-transferable in case of non availability of students in a state or community. 35% seats are also earmarked for girl students.  For availing of the benefit under the scheme a student should fulfill following criteria along-with other terms and conditions prescribed in the scheme:

- (i) The  student  should  have  secured  admission  in  the  approved  courses  at  Masters,  M.Phil  or Ph.D levels abroad for the courses mentioned in the scheme guidelines.
- (ii) He/ She should have availed loan from a scheduled bank under the Education   Loan Scheme of the Indian Banks Association (IBA) for the purpose.
- (iii) Total income from all sources of the employed candidate or his/ her parents/ guardians in case of unemployed candidate shall not exceed Rs. 6.00 lakh per annum.
- (iv) The interest subsidy under the scheme is available to the eligible students only once, either for masters M.Phil or Ph.D level.

Details of Scheme is available on the website of this Ministry i.e. www.minorityaffairs.gov.in.

- (b) & (c)   : Yes,  Madam.  Since  inception  of  the  scheme  total  number  of  3251  students  (including renewals) have been benefitted under the Padho Pardesh Scheme and an amount of Rs. 28.65 crore has been  disbursed  to  them  towards  claim  of  their  interest  subsidy.  Details  of  physical  target,  number  of students benefitted and amount of interest subsidy disbursed under the scheme are given as under:
- (d) & (e): The awareness campaign is carried out under the Scheme of Research/Studies, Monitoring and Evaluation of Development Scheme of the Ministry to create awareness among the minority communities for all schemes being implemented by the Ministry including Padho Pardesh Scheme. The Ministry has taken  various  initiatives  to  give  wide  publicity  of  these  schemes  through  print  advertisements  and broadcast/telecast of audio/video spots through All India Radio (AIR), Doordarshan/Private TV Channels, FM Channels, Digital Cinema and various other means of outdoor publicity, including publicity made through 'Progress Panchayat' to make the target group aware of this scheme.

| Year    |   Physical Target (Fresh) |   No. of students benefitted (Fresh+Renewals) |   Amount of interest Subsidy awarded (Rs.in crore) |
|---------|---------------------------|-----------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------|
| 2014-15 |                       200 |                                           573 |                                               3.5  |
| 2015-16 |                       300 |                                           815 |                                               4.15 |
| 2016-17 |                       300 |                                           727 |                                               4    |
| 2017-18 |                       400 |                                          1136 |                                              17    |
| Total   |                      1200 |                                          3251 |                                              28.65 |

The details of fund allocated under the scheme of Padho Pardesh during last three years and current year are given  below:

| Financial Year   |   Fund allocated for the scheme (Rs. in crore) |
|------------------|------------------------------------------------|
| 2015-16          |                                           4.19 |
| 2016-17          |                                           4    |
| 2017-18          |                                          17    |
| 2018-19          |                                          24    |

Apart from the Padho Pardesh scheme, National Minority Development Finance Corporation (NMDFC), an  organization  under  this  Ministry  also  provides  Education  loan  for  overseas  studies  to  the  students belonging to the notified minority communities. So far, 277 students have been given loan by NMDFC.

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