Overview
- The Odisha cabinet, which met Saturday, raised ST reservation to 22.5%, SC to 16.25%, and created an 11.25% SEBC quota for professional education.
- Out of 2,421 medical seats, reserved slots rise to 545 for ST and 393 for SC, with 272 for SEBC; in engineering, reserved seats tally 10,030 for ST, 7,244 for SC, and 5,015 for SEBC.
- The policy applies across state universities, affiliated colleges, ITIs and polytechnics covering engineering, medicine and allied fields, and the government says it will start in the next admissions cycle.
- Officials say total reservations stay within the Supreme Court’s 50% ceiling, while the BJD and Congress argue OBCs should get seats in line with their population share.
- The cabinet also cleared the Mukhyamantri Annapurna Yojana to give each existing food-security beneficiary an extra 5 kg of free rice each month.