Student Financial Aid Authority to Administer Scholarships and Educational Loan Schemes for Poor Students

 The Government will soon launch a National Skills Mission through the Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Ministry. The Finance Minister, Shri Arun Jaitley, in his Budget Speech 2015-16 today, said that the Mission will consolidate skill initiatives spread across several Ministries. It will allow the Government to standardize procedures and outcomes across 31 Sector Skill Councils, he added.

 Shri Arun Jaitely said “India is one of the youngest nations in the world with more than 54% of the total population below 25 years of age. Yet today less than 5% of our potential workforce gets formal skill training to be employable and stay employable”.

The Finance Minister said that the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Grameen Kaushal Yojana was launched to enhance the employability of Rural Youth which is the key to unlocking India’s demographic dividend. A sum of ₹ 1500 crore has been allocated for this scheme, he said, for which disbursement will be through a digital voucher directly into qualified student’s bank account. A 100th Birth Anniversary Celebration Committee will be announced soon and adequate resources will be provided for the celebration of 100th Birth Anniversary of the Great Nationalist Shri Deen Dayal Ji Upadhyay, he added.

 Shri Jaitley announced that the Government will launch all India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in J&K, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh and Assam in the fiscal year 2015-16. Similarly, to augment Medical Sciences in Bihar, another AIIMS like Institute is proposed to be set in the State.

 In his Budget Speech, the Finance Minister also proposed to set up an IIT in Karnataka, and upgrade Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad into a full fledged IIT. IIMs will be set in J&K and Andhara Pradesh, the Minister added. Three new National Institutes of Pharmaceuticals Education and Research are proposed to be set up in Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Chattisgarh along with Institutes of Science and Education Research in Nagaland and Odisha.

 For the North Eastern States, a Centre for Film Production, Animation and Gaming will be set up in Arunachal Pradesh while an Apprenticeship Training Institute for Women will be set in Haryana and Uttarakhand during 2015-16.

 To enable all poor and middle class students to pursue higher education of their choice without any constraints of funds, a fully IT based Student Financial Aid Authority is proposed to be set up during the year 2015-16. It will administer and monitor scholarships as well as Educational Loan Schemes, through the Pradhan Mantri Vidya Lakshmi Karyakaram to ensure that no student misses out on higher education for lack of funds.

National Skills Mission consolidates skill training across sectors; Student Financial Aid Authority to centralize scholarships and educational loans access. The National Skills Mission will consolidate inter-ministerial skill initiatives and standardize procedures across 31 Sector Skill Councils, complementing rural vocational measures delivered through digital vouchers; separate vocational infrastructure projects and apprenticeship institutes are proposed for targeted States.