Trinamool, BJP clash over student credit card scheme

The Trinamool Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership on Friday (November 28, 2025), sparred over the student credit card scheme started by the TMC government. As Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee praised her government’s scheme, BJP’s Amit Malviya accused that the education system is “dying a slow death” in West Bengal. 

“Happy to share that under our Student Credit Card Scheme, the number of sanctioned cases has crossed today the landmark figure of 1,00,000,” Ms. Banerjee shared on her social media handle X. 

She further added that this flagship scheme launched by the TMC administration has provided student education loans of up to 10 lakh, to academics in need at a reduced interest rate of 4% per annum. An average student education loan in India has an average interest rate between 9.5% to 15.25% per annum. 

The TMC chairperson also added that the difference in interest and subsidy amount is borne by the State Government.

However, BJP’s Amit Malviya came down heavily on Ms. Banerjee’s claims and said that this scholarship program has now turned into an issue of political leverage to push education into the background.

“Thousands of students remain trapped between banks, middlemen, and TMC-controlled verification desks… While the education system is unraveling, Mamata Banerjee continues to celebrate, not progress, but the slow death of education in Bengal,” Mr. Malviya wrote on his X handle.

Started in 2021, this scheme was launched by the Higher Education Department, Government of West Bengal to help students pursue higher education both within and outside India. Students up to the age of 40 years can apply for this loan, and the repayment period is 15 years.