Odisha Cabinet Hikes Education Quotas, Launches Rice Scheme

The Odisha government approved significant enhancements to reservation quotas in higher education and launched a new scheme to provide additional free rice to millions of beneficiaries during a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Saturday evening.

Under the revised policy, reservation for Scheduled Tribes will rise from 12 percent to 22.5 percent, aligning more closely with their population share of over 22 percent in the state. Scheduled Castes will see their quota increase from 8 percent to 16.25 percent, reflecting their proportion exceeding 17 percent. For the first time, Socially and Economically Backward Classes will receive 11.25 percent reservation, bringing the total reserved seats within the 50 percent constitutional limit. These changes apply to admissions in state universities, affiliated colleges, Industrial Training Institutes, and polytechnics, covering undergraduate and postgraduate programs in fields such as engineering, medicine, management, computer applications, nursing, pharmacy, agriculture, architecture, and allied disciplines.

The adjustments will substantially expand access for underrepresented groups. In medical courses,...