Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar here on Wednesday announced that the state government will give credit guarantee of education loans to be taken by students for pursuing higher education.
Speaking on the conclusion of the three-day Budget session here, Khattar said a credit guarantee fund will be set up for the purpose as students face difficulties in getting loan for higher education due to a lack of collateral guarantee required by the banks.
He said after becoming an earning hand, students will be required to refund the loan amount to the banks.
A separate provision has been made in the Budget for this scheme, he added.
The chief minister also announced that the state government has created a separate Foreign Cooperation Department to focus on initiatives for the welfare of non-resident Indians and youth employment.
He said it has been decided that farmers, workers, students, teachers and representatives of panchayati raj institutions besides urban local bodies will be sent on foreign tours to abreast them with information about the latest schemes at the global level.
Making another announcement, he said the state government employees and their dependents will now be able to get the facility of lung and heart transplant.
Earlier, in his nearly 75-minute reply to the discussion on the state Budget, Khattar said the figure of 28 per cent unemployment rate in the state was incorrect and concocted.
Senior Congress leader Kiran Choudhary had interjected the Chief Minister during his reply and drawn his attention to the high unemployment rate.
"This 28 percentage figure is not correct, it is concocted. Two years back, the figure was 2.5 per cent. How can it go so high," he said.
Responding to the rising state debt, the CM said it reflected the outstanding debt of nearly Rs 27,000 crore of the power department which was taken over by the government.
The state has a debt of Rs 1.908 lakh crore and the government has been under constant attack of the Congress over the issue.
The chief minister, who countered the opposition charge through poetry, said the state GDP was estimated to be 7.7 per cent this fiscal, which will increase further next year.
He said the present state government has spent more funds on development activities in its five years as compared to the 10-year tenure of the Congress government.
Hitting out at the Congress, he said they did not allocate adequate funds to many of the projects they started but the present dispensation has made sufficient allocations for their smooth functioning and completed many unfinished projects.
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