TN Appoints College Faculty to Help Students Get Collateral-Free Loans

The Tamil Nadu Higher Education Department has appointed college faculty members as district-level facilitation officers in Chennai and across the state to assist students in securing collateral-free education loans. Announced on Friday by Higher Education Minister P Viswanathan, the initiative is designed to prevent students from dropping out of higher education courses because they are unable to pay their fees.

The newly appointed facilitation officers will specifically target engineering, polytechnic, and arts and science colleges. It will be the primary duty of these faculty members to identify and gather the details of underprivileged students who require financial assistance to pursue their studies.

To ensure a smooth application process, the facilitation officers will work within small teams and coordinate directly with nodal banks in every district. The officers have already undergone training conducted by the banks to prepare them for this role. They are expected to act as a direct bridge between the banking institutions and the students.

According to Minister Viswanathan, the state government has set an ambitious target to provide education loans to 1,50,000 students across Tamil Nadu this year. This marks a significant increase from last year, when 1,02,000 students from the state successfully obtained education loans.

Under the current guidelines, each student can secure a maximum loan amount of ₹7.5 lakh without providing any collateral. The minister also indicated that this ceiling is likely to be increased during the current year to accommodate rising educational costs.

To ensure the program is implemented effectively, district collectors will play an active role in monitoring its progress. Collectors have been instructed to conduct periodic review meetings with both the banks and the facilitation officers to assess the status of loan applications and facilitate any necessary approvals.