Taking forward its previous announcement on making education from kindergarten to postgraduate level free in Odisha, the Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi-chaired cabinet on Wednesday (July 1, 2026) approved ‘Gyanodaya – Shiksharu Samruddhi’, a new scheme, waiving admission fees beginning with the academic session 2026–27.

Aimed at making quality education more accessible, equitable and affordable for students, the scheme says eligible students admitted to regular mode courses in government and government-aided institutions will be provided complete waiver of admission fees.

The scheme will cover students enrolled in Classes IX to XII in government and government-aided schools, as well as students pursuing Undergraduate (UG) and Postgraduate (PG) programmes in regular mode in State Public Universities, government colleges and government-aided colleges, says a statement issued after the Cabinet meeting here.

As education from Kindergarten (KG) to Class VIII is already free in Odisha, this initiative completes the State Government’s vision of providing free education from KG to PG, it says.

“The scheme has been designed to ensure that no deserving student is deprived of education due to financial constraints. By reducing the financial burden on families, particularly those from economically weaker and disadvantaged sections of society, the initiative will encourage greater enrolment, improve retention, reduce dropout rates and enable more students to pursue higher education without interruption,” the Cabinet note says.

Self-financing courses or institutions, unaided institutions, PPP-mode institutions and courses, as well as professional and technical programmes, have been kept outside the scope of the scheme.

The Cabinet has approved an estimated expenditure of ₹895.57 crore during the first year and ₹5,467.55 crore over a period of five years for implementation of the scheme.

“This represents one of the largest public investments in the education sector by the State Government and is expected to benefit over 32 lakh students every year while significantly easing the financial burden on their families,” said the note.

Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Friday (June 12, 2026) announced that education from kindergarten (KG) to postgraduate (PG) level in all government institutions in Odisha would be made completely free.

Addressing a press conference on the occasion of the Bharatiya Janata Party government completing two years in the State, Mr. Majhi said, “Our government is committed to making education truly free and universal. Therefore, I announce that education from KG to PG level will be completely free of cost.”

The Chief Minister said the initiative would benefit all students in the State, particularly those from economically weaker sections and girls.

Food scheme soon

In another announcement, Mr. Majhi said the government would launch the Chief Minister Annapurna Yojana to strengthen food security. Under the scheme, all beneficiaries of the National Food Security Act and the State Food Security Scheme would receive an additional 5 kg of rice per month free of cost.

“As a result, every beneficiary will receive 10 kg of rice free of cost every month. The scheme will benefit 3.28 crore beneficiaries, covering about 80 per cent of the State’s population. The State government will spend ₹8,813 crore annually on this programme,” he said.

In the education sector, Mr. Majhi said the government had taken two historic steps: implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which he said had been pending due to political reasons, and establishment of Godabarish Mishra Model Primary Schools in every panchayat. He said that out of 2,200 schools planned in the first phase, foundation stones had been laid for 322. Over the last two years, 26,615 teaching and non-teaching staff have been recruited, he said, adding that 45,000 more teachers would be recruited over three years.