The government is mulling over specialised loans for university students to buy laptops, with the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology and the concerned varsity authorities as the guarantors.
“We are already planning the loan scheme and have talks with the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the central bank,” Nazrul Islam Khan, secretary to the ICT ministry told the Dhaka Tribune.
He confirmed that, a meeting with the UGC and some private banks was held in this regard on June 8, where all the parties praised the initiative.
Earlier, at a meeting on mobile applications, the idea of laptop loans was first shared in the presence of Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman and ICT Minister Mostafa Faruque Mohammad, he said.
The Governor had immediately given his consent, and promised all necessary help for the project.
Nazrul Islam Khan, also the project director of Access to Information (a2i) under the prime minister’s office with the assistance with UNDP, told the Dhaka Tribune, “We don’t yet know how many students we can bring under this loan scheme, but it will be a start.”
“The ministry can carry out this initiative for the next few years,” he added. “As a government-owned company already assembles laptops, we can also collaborate with them.”
Like other specialised loans, Bangladesh Bank can direct commercial banks to disburse the long-term, minimum interest loan, which may have a ceiling of maximum Tk50,000. The students would be required to pay off the loan before achieving certification.
“Expect no defaulters, rather this loan will create moral and social obligations in a student,” the ICT secretary claimed.
Meanwhile, ICT ministry officials informed, that it initially plans to introduce the loan for Dhaka University students, may be from the next session, involving a limited number of students.
The students’ results and economic status will be the factors in the selection process.
Mustafa Jabbar, President of Bangladesh Computer Samity praised the initiative. “We have quality plans on paper but can’t implement them always due to bureaucratic difficulties.”
He added that the ICT ministry had lots of fund in the last few budgets, but could not use it effectively.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Muhammad Zahidul Islam
Quelle/Source: DhakaTribune, 22.06.2013
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