Bhubaneswar: Poor and meritorious students from Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities in Odisha will not have to arrange admission fees upfront when joining government medical and engineering colleges, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi has directed.Under the new arrangement, eligible students will be allowed to take admission without depositingadmission, tuition and other prescribed fees at the time of admission and for up to six months thereafter. The state government will issue detailed guidelines on the eligibility criteria and implementation process shortly.The decision is aimed at students who clear highly competitive entrance examinations but face difficulty arranging money immediately after securing a seat. The government said the gap between admission and the release of scholarship funds can create a financial hurdle for students from economically weaker families.

Why Odisha has taken the decision

According to the Chief Minister's Office, SC and ST students generally receive scholarships from both the Central and Odisha governments. However, scholarship processing and disbursement can take around three to four months after the required formalities are completed.The new system is intended to bridge that gap. Students can complete their admission first and pay the applicable fees after receiving their scholarship money, rather than arranging the entire amount immediately.This is particularly relevant for students entering professional courses such as medicine and engineering, where admission-related expenses can become an immediate financial burden for families with limited resources.

Fee payment will be deferred, not permanently waived

The announcement is important to understand correctly.The government has directed that eligible SC/ST students will not have to deposit the fees upfront and can defer payment for up to six months. Available information does not establish a blanket permanent waiver of all college fees. Students are expected to deposit the applicable admission and tuition fees after receiving their scholarship funds.The exact list of fees covered and the procedure students will need to follow will become clearer once the Odisha government issues its detailed guidelines.

Move follows reports of students struggling at admission

The decision comes after concerns over meritorious students being unable to immediately arrange admission money despite qualifying for professional coursesThe New Indian Express reported the case of 19-year-old Soumya Ranjan Sahu, from a financially disadvantaged family in Kendrapara district, who had struggled to arrange money for counselling and admission to the MBBS course at SCB Medical College in Cuttack. The report said Majhi took note of the issue before issuing the directive.The government now intends to ensure that a temporary shortage of funds does not prevent eligible students from taking up seats they have earned through competitive examinations.

What happens next?

The Odisha government will issue detailed guidelines specifying how the fee-deferment facility will work and which students will be covered.Until those guidelines are released, students and colleges will need to wait for clarity on the documentation, eligibility requirements and payment procedure.The immediate policy direction, however, is clear: eligible poor SC/ST students entering government medical and engineering colleges will get up to six months to arrange their applicable fees instead of having to pay them at admission.

Higher Education Minister Suryabanshi Suraj announced the Standard Operating Procedure for the Gyanodaya–Shiksharu Samruddhi scheme on Tuesday, spelling out fee guidelines, eligibility norms and the responsibilities of educational institutions under the initiative. The scheme provides a complete waiver of admission fees for students enrolled in regular courses at government and government-aided institutions, covering Classes IX to XII in schools, along with undergraduate and postgraduate programmes at government colleges, government-aided colleges and State Public Universities.

According to the SOP, students who have already paid admission fees for the coming academic session will get full refunds credited directly to their bank accounts. To keep institutions financially stable through the transition, the government will reimburse colleges in phases — 10 percent of the fee amount after admission, another 15 percent in a second instalment, and the remaining 75 percent spread across three equal tranches over the academic year. Suraj said the structure is designed to ensure colleges aren't allowed to raise fees arbitrarily while the scheme takes effect.

Eligibility comes with one significant condition: students must maintain at least 75 percent attendance to continue receiving the benefit, though the SOP allows relaxation down to 65 percent under exceptional circumstances. The scheme's scope has clear boundaries too — professional and technical courses, self-financing programmes, private unaided institutions and PPP-mode institutions all fall outside its coverage, as do hostel charges and examination fees.

The scheme itself was approved by the Odisha Cabinet on July 1, as part of a broader set of 12 proposals spanning eight government departments. Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi described the decision at the time as a historic step toward ensuring no child in Odisha is denied education due to financial hardship, framing it as the fulfilment of a commitment he'd made publicly in June when his government completed two years in office. Odisha had already made education free from Kindergarten through Class VIII; this scheme extends that commitment through postgraduate level for the first time.

The state government expects the initiative to benefit more than 32 lakh students annually, with an estimated yearly cost of around ₹895 crore and a projected five-year expenditure of roughly ₹5,467 crore. Officials have framed the scheme as part of a broader push to raise Odisha's Gross Enrolment Ratio in higher education to 60 percent, in line with targets set under the National Education Policy 2020 and the state's own long-term development goals for 2036 and 2047.

The scheme takes effect from the 2026-27 academic session, with the Higher Education and School & Mass Education Departments expected to issue further institution-level guidance as implementation begins.