Guruji Credit Card Scheme: Real-Time Interest Payments from July to Benefit Students

Ranchi: The higher and technical education department is set to implement real-time processing for interest payments under Guruji Credit Card scheme from July. The initiative is designed to resolve persistent issues where students were being charged standard commercial bank interest rates ranging from 10% to 11% instead of the promised 4% subsidised rate.

Rahul Kumar Purwar, principal secretary of the department, said that the scheme faced initial teething problems that have now been largely resolved. “Moving to a real-time payment system will ensure students no longer have reasons to complain about paying excess interest.”

He further highlighted a specific provision — students who choose to repay their loans after securing employment are charged 4% interest but those who begin repayment immediately upon receiving the amount are eligible for a reduced rate of 3%.

The scheme, launched in Oct 2024, provides education loans of up to Rs 15 lakh for students pursuing higher studies. To facilitate this, the department has partnered with several banks to offer credit. Under the agreement, while banks issue loans at their standard rates, students are only responsible for 4%, with the department covering the remaining balance.

The current system has proved problematic as banks were meant to submit claims quarterly but some delayed their submissions for six to nine months. During these intervals, banks continued to charge beneficiaries the full interest. Students only received reimbursements after the department processed the claims and disbursed funds to the banks. The system upgrade is intended to stop these discrepancies by ensuring instant funds disbursement.

Purwar informed that from July, the department will no longer wait for banks to file claims manually. Since the entire loan sanctioning and disbursal process is managed via an online dashboard, the department will automatically transfer the interest subvention amount to banks at the end of every month, preventing any accumulation of interest for students. Banks will then be given a 10-day period to review the received funds and file a claim if there is any difference between the actual amount and sanctioned funds.

At present, the subvention payments for all banks have been settled up to Dec 2025. The department is currently waiting for banks to submit their claims for the most recent quarter from Jan to March 2026, for final clearance.

Loans under the scheme are extended to students who possess a local residence certificate or have completed their Class 10, 12 or diploma in Jharkhand, and have secured admission to a qualifying course at an eligible institute.