Patna: The Bihar government has tightened the process for availing education loans under the Bihar Student Credit Card Scheme, introducing additional documentation requirements after officials flagged large-scale misuse of the programme.
Fresh instructions were issued on Thursday to all district magistrates by Vinayak Mishra, the scheme’s nodal officer, making the application process more stringent for students seeking loans in the 2025–26 academic session.
Under the revised system, applicants will now be required to submit a handwritten self-declaration along with their application. The declaration must clearly state that the amount sought is an education loan and that repayment responsibility lies with the student or their co-applicant, in accordance with the scheme’s rules.
Students must also attach an official enrolment receipt that explicitly mentions details such as the admission number, subject, academic session, the applicant’s name and their father’s name. In addition, submission of a university registration slip has been made mandatory at the stage of application verification at district registration and counselling centres, or before the loan agreement is signed.
The changes follow a review by the education department after a surge in applications at district centres revealed irregularities. Officials found that many students had been persuaded to apply for loans by staff or representatives of educational institutions, often under the false impression that the scheme was a scholarship rather than a repayable loan.
According to the instructions circulated to district magistrates, a committee will now be constituted at the district level to examine such cases and verify the role of intermediaries. The government has not ruled out the involvement of middlemen in misleading students, prompting the move to enforce tighter scrutiny and additional safeguards.
Officials said the revised requirements are aimed at protecting students from being misled, ensuring informed consent, and preserving the integrity of the Bihar Student Credit Card Scheme, which was designed to support higher education through affordable credit rather than indirect financial inducements.
