The minister said one of the major concerns of the government is to ensure that no one is denied professional education because he or she is poor.

'The honourable prime minister, in his Independence Day speech on Aug 15, had, among other things, announced that a new scheme will be started to help students from economically weaker sections of society by way of reduced interest rate on their education loans. This will benefit about five lakh students in getting technical and professional education,' Chidambaram added.

The CCEA also laid down an eight-point parameter for the scheme.