The government of India has finally launched a portal named Vidya Lakshmi (www.vidyalakshmi.co.in) for the students seeking educational loans and government scholarships. Vidya Lakshmi Portal is a first of its kind website providing single window for Students to access information and also make application for Educational Loans provided by Banks as well as Government Scholarships with one form.

“Vidya Lakshmi was launched on the occasion of Independence Day i.e. 15th August, 2015 for the benefit of students seeking educational loans,” a Finance Ministry release said, adding, “So far 13 banks have registered 22 educational loan schemes on www.vidyalakshmi.co.in and five banks — SBI, IDBI Bank, Bank of India, Canara Bank and Union Bank of India have integrated their system with the portal for providing loan processing status to students.”

This initiative was proposed by the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the Budget of 2015-16 through the Pradhan Mantri Vidya Lakshi Karykaram (PMVLK). It is aimed to ensure that no student misses out on higher education for lack of funds, said the release, adding that the launch of the portal is the first step towards achieving this objective. “It is expected that students throughout the country will be benefited by this initiative of the government by making available a single window for access to various educational loan schemes of all banks,” said the release further.

The portal has been developed and maintained by NSDL e-Governance Infrastructure Limited (NSDL e-Gov) under the supervision of Department of Financial Services in the Finance Ministry, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development and Indian Banks’ Association (IBA).

The Portal has the following Unique Features:

• Information about Educational Loan Schemes offered by the Registered Banks
• Common Educational Loan Application Form (CELAF) for Students.
• Facilities to apply for loan to multiple banks in one go
• Facility for Banks to download Students’ Loan Applications
• Facility for Banks to upload loan processing status
• Facility for Students to email grievances/queries relating to Educational Loans to Banks
• Dashboard facility for Students to view status of their loan application and
• Linkage to National Scholarship Portal for information and application for Government Scholarships

How to register on Vidya Lakshmi Portal?

• Visit www.vidyalakshmi.co.in
• Click on Register and create your Login Id / Account.

How to apply for Educational loan through Vidya Lakshmi?

• Login with you User Id & password
• Fill-up the Common Education Loan Application Form (CELAF) by providing all the necessary details. This is a one-time procedure.
• Submit the Loan Application Form
• Now you can Search for ‘Educational Loan Schemes’ offered by Banks that are registered on Vidya Lakshmi portal.

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