The Odisha Legislative Assembly today unanimously passed the ₹3,664.40 crore budget demand for the Higher Education Department for the financial year 2026–27.
Presenting and defending the proposal, Higher Education Minister Suryabanshi Suraj emphasised the government’s commitment to creating a safe, secure, and empowering academic environment, especially for girl students, while pushing quality education, research, and entrepreneurship.
In his reply to the debate, the Minister announced the statewide rollout of the **ShaktiShree Yojana** across all 16 state universities and 730 government and aided private colleges. The scheme aims to provide girl students with a safe educational ecosystem through the establishment of **ShaktiShree Empowerment Centres**, self-defence training, mentorship programmes, and mandatory CCTV coverage on campuses. A dedicated budget of ₹15 crore has been allocated for the initiative.
The Minister further stated that the budget has been framed with five clear objectives: strengthening infrastructure, delivering quality education, enhancing employability, promoting high-level research, and ensuring the holistic development of students.
Following the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, the department is taking concrete steps to foster innovation and entrepreneurship. The **Chief Minister’s Research and Innovation Fellowship Programme** has received ₹20 crore, while ₹5 crore has been earmarked for startup development, innovation, incubation, and entrepreneurship initiatives. Under the state-level “Naba Srujan & Nutan Udyam” programme, successful student prototypes and research ideas will receive direct financial support from the department.
In a major infrastructure push, the government has established seven new Government Degree Colleges in educationally backward blocks that previously had no higher education institutions. The new colleges are located at:
– Thuamul Rampur (Kalahandi)
– Bandhugaon and Narayanpatna (Koraput)
– Jharigam (Nabarangpur)
– Rayagada (Rayagada)
– Chandrapur (Rayagada)
– Chitrakonda (Malkangiri)
Minister Suraj concluded that the 2026–27 budget reflects the state government’s vision of transforming Odisha’s higher education into a hub of excellence, safety, research, and opportunity.
