The government and Mutual Trust Bank have agreed in principle to provide loan for purchasing laptop to the freelancers who are being developed under ‘Learning and Earning Programme’ (LEP).

The decision was taken at a meeting between Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Secretary Md Nazrul Islam Khan and Managing Director and CEO of Trust Bank Istiaque Ahmed Chowdhury held at the ICT division on Wednesday.

Both ICT Division and Mutual Trust Bank will sit again within a week to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in this regard, official sources said.

They said the ICT Division has agreed to become a guarantor for such loans. “We are pursuing the banks to provide loan for buying laptop since launching of the Learning and Earning Programme in early 2012 and the Trust Bank is the first to come up with a proposal to provide such loan for the already-developed-freelancers,” Khan said.

He said ICT Division has developed around 20,000 freelancers so far under its ongoing Learning and Earning Programme out of the 70,000 targeted by this year. But, many of them have no ability to buy a laptop required for outsourcing work and building career as IT professionals, Khan added.

He said ICT Division and Trust Bank have initially agreed in principle to provide loan to these freelancers to build their career as IT professionals and create self employment.

Additional Secretary of ICT Division and Managing Director of High-Tech Park Authority Hosne Ara Begum, Joint Secretary (planning and development) Shyama Prasad Bepari and Executive Vice President of Trust Bank S M Akram Sayeed were present.