Bengaluru: With only 185 students taking benefit of the project launched by the State government in 2013, the Rajiv Gandhi Loan Scholarship Scheme has failed to find takers.

Department of Collegiate Education which is disappointed with the poor response has asked the principals of the first-grade/ degree colleges to give wide publicity to the scheme by circulating details about it amongst students and put it up on college website and notice board.

According to a senior official from the department, over 100 princiapls of various colleges replied to their letters saying that students are not showing interest in the scheme.

Since the scheme is restricted to undergraduate general degree courses where the need for financial assistance does not arise to a great extent, the scheme has attracted fewer students.

As many as 185 loan scholarships have been sanctioned so far and 582 applications are pending after the scheme was announced in the state budget and launched during the 2013-14 academic year. The principals have been instructed to clear the pending applications soon.

Students, whose family’s annual income is below Rs 2.5 lakh, can apply for the loan. Those admitted to degree courses can apply for the scheme, and once eligible, they have to perform well in their academics.

Each applicant is eligible to get a maximum of `60,000 a year as loan amount. Students have to repay the loan along with the interest. The interest rates vary from 11-12% annually. Repayment can commence after six months of securing a job or one year of the completion of the course.

According to an official, there are several conditions from the bank too. If the parents have any pending loans at any bank, their wards are not sanctioned the scholarship. Meanwhile, the student can avail subsidized rate of interest for the study period of three years and can avail the loan scheme if he pursues Postgraduate courses, the official said.