New Akanksha Scheme (Educational Loan), Gujarat Thakor and Koli Vikas Nigam

What is the New Akanksha Scheme?

New Akanksha Scheme, listed on the corporation's own portal as the Navi Akanksha higher education loan scheme, is an education loan run by the Gujarat Thakor and Koli Vikas Nigam (GTKVN) under the Social Justice and Empowerment Department, Government of Gujarat. The scheme lends money at a subsidised, government-notified rate to students of the Thakor and Koli communities so that the cost of a professional degree does not decide who studies what.

The Thakor and Koli communities are among the largest Socially and Educationally Backward Class groups in Gujarat, and GTKVN was created to give them dedicated credit rather than leaving them to compete for the general backward class corporation's limited funds. The corporation reports that in 2024-25 it disbursed loans of about Rs 8,512.60 lakh to more than 7,160 beneficiaries across its education, self-employment and transport schemes.

Key features published for the scheme

• Maximum educational loan: Rs 15,00,000
• Interest: the rate fixed by the government from time to time; scheme summaries in wide circulation quote 4% a year for male students and 3.5% for female students
• Repayment: five years
• Purpose: tuition fees, books, hostel or accommodation and travel connected with a recognised higher or professional course
• Courses commonly named: engineering, medicine, MBA and MCA, at graduate and postgraduate level

Because the interest rate is a notified government rate, the honest position is the one the corporation itself takes on its portal: ask the district office for the rate applicable to the year you are borrowing in, and read it on the sanction letter before you sign.

Who is eligible for the New Akanksha education loan?

You can apply if:

• You belong to the Thakor or Koli community, classified in Gujarat as a Socially and Educationally Backward Class, and hold a caste certificate from the competent authority.
• You are a resident of Gujarat.
• You have admission to a recognised institution for a higher or professional course.
• Your family's annual income is within the corporation's ceiling. GTKVN's published eligibility note sets the general family income ceiling for its loan assistance at Rs 3,00,000 a year with effect from 1 April 2018, and provides that families with income up to Rs 1,50,000 receive at least 50% of the total loan amount as a priority allocation.
• You can provide an acceptable guarantor and the security papers the corporation asks for.

You cannot apply if:

• You do not belong to the Thakor or Koli community. Other Socially and Educationally Backward Class applicants go to the Gujarat Backward Classes Development Corporation; Scheduled Caste students to the Gujarat Scheduled Castes Development Corporation; minority-community students to the Gujarat Minority Finance and Development Corporation.
• Another member of your family has already taken a loan under the corporation's direct finance or educational loan schemes. The portal states clearly that one person per family may apply.
• You or your family has an outstanding or defaulted loan with the corporation. Such applicants are told on the portal not to apply.
• You have no confirmed admission. An application without an admission letter and fee structure cannot be processed.
• You cannot arrange a guarantor.

The corporation's general loan eligibility page also records an age band of 21 to 50 years for its loan assistance. Since students entering a first degree are usually younger than 21, confirm with the district office whether the age band applies to the student or to the co-applicant parent in your case, as practice differs between the education and direct finance schemes.

What documents are required?

How to apply for the New Akanksha Scheme

1. Open the corporation's portal at gtkdconline.gujarat.gov.in and check that the educational loan scheme for the current academic year is open. The portal notes that the educational loan window runs through the year, while direct finance schemes have dated windows.
2. Register and log in with a mobile number that will stay active. The corporation sends sanction, document and disbursement messages to that number.
3. Select the educational loan (Navi Akanksha) scheme and fill in the online form: personal details, caste, family income, the course, the institution and the total cost you are seeking.
4. Upload the photograph and documents, caste certificate, income certificate, admission letter, fee structure, marksheets, Aadhaar and bank passbook — in the file sizes the portal specifies.
5. Confirm the application. The portal states that the "Confirm Application" step is mandatory and that an unconfirmed application is not accepted. Note the application number.
6. Print the confirmed application, sign it, attach self-attested copies of every document and the guarantor's papers, and submit the file to the district office of the corporation, the Deputy Collector or the Social Welfare Officer named on your receipt.
7. Attend verification if the district office calls you, and complete the loan agreement and surety formalities after sanction.
8. Receive disbursement by bank transfer. For a multi-year course, disbursement is normally staged year by year against the fee demand, so keep each year's fee receipt.

How to apply offline

1. Visit the district office of the Gujarat Thakor and Koli Vikas Nigam, or the Deputy Collector or Social Welfare Officer handling corporation schemes in your district. The corporation maintains offices in 32 districts.
2. Ask for the educational loan information sheet and the current checklist.
3. Submit the completed form with all enclosures and take a dated acknowledgement.

The online entry is still made in most districts, because sanction and disbursement run on the online system.

How to check your application status

1. Log in at gtkdconline.gujarat.gov.in with your registered mobile number.
2. Open the application status option and enter your application number.
3. The portal also allows you to edit a returned application and to track instalment repayment on the same login.

If the status does not move, call the corporation's helpline on 8401402303, or the head office on 079-23256486 / 079-23256488. Written queries go to md-gtkvn@gujarat.gov.in.

Why New Akanksha applications get rejected

• Application not confirmed on the portal, which leaves it outside the queue.
• Documents uploaded in the wrong format or unreadable, especially the caste and income certificates.
• Hard copy not submitted to the district office within the stated days.
• Family income above the ceiling or an income certificate from an earlier year.
• Second loan in the same family, which the scheme does not allow.
• Existing default by the applicant or a family member.
• Admission not to a recognised institution, or a course outside the approved list.
• Guarantor papers incomplete, which is the most common reason a sanctioned file stalls before disbursement.

Repayment and what happens after the course

Repayment is over five years, and the terms in the sanction letter govern. Two points matter in practice. First, repayment discipline is tracked at family level: a default closes the door on future corporation loans for siblings as well. Second, the corporation accepts loan instalments online through the same portal, which is safer than paying cash to anyone claiming to collect on its behalf.

Help and grievance redressal

• Helpline: 8401402303
• Head office: Gujarat Thakor and Koli Vikas Nigam, Block No. 16, Ground Floor, Dr. Jivraj Mehta Bhavan (Old Secretariat), Gandhinagar 382010
• Phone: 079-23256486, 079-23256488
• Email: md-gtkvn@gujarat.gov.in
• District level: the Deputy Collector or Social Welfare Officer of your district

Applying is free. No agent is authorised to charge a student for arranging a sanction, and no officer will ask for an OTP sent to your mobile number.