The Odisha cabinet has approved a new scheme to give free Wi-Fi to colleges across the state.
The scheme is called Odisha Shikshanet.
It will cover 601 government and aided colleges. Aided colleges receive government support but are run by private bodies.
The cabinet meeting was held on Monday. Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi chaired it. The total cost is ₹393.62 crore.
Graphic: News Anek, from the facts in this report
Key points
- Free, secure, high-speed Wi-Fi will be set up in 601 government and aided colleges.
- Each student can use up to 1 GB of free internet data per day inside the campus.
- More than 6 lakh students and faculty members are expected to benefit.
- The scheme runs for three years, from 2026-27 to 2028-29.
So what will students actually get?
Students can use the Wi-Fi for studies, research and skill courses. The facility will support e-books and digital libraries.
It will also give access to virtual classrooms and online courses.
These include SWAYAM and other MOOCs, which are free online courses offered by the government.
Students can also use research databases and resources for competitive exams.
Why does this matter for students who are far from cities?
Chief Secretary Anu Garg said the scheme is aimed at students from rural, remote and economically weaker families.
Many of them do not have easy access to quality digital learning.
The scheme builds on phase-I, which was already carried out in 130 colleges.
The new plan extends this work to many more colleges.
What happens next with the rollout?
The project will include Wi-Fi installation, bandwidth, network management and cyber security.
Support for operations and maintenance is also included.
A central monitoring dashboard will track service delivery, network security and uptime.
The scheme will be rolled out over the next three years.
Explainer
What happened before
- The scheme builds on phase-I, which was already carried out in 130 colleges.
- The cabinet met on Monday and cleared 13 proposals in total.
Why it matters
Students from rural, remote and poorer families often lack reliable internet for studies, so this aims to close that gap.
What to watch next
- The scheme will be rolled out over three years, from 2026-27 to 2028-29.
- A central monitoring dashboard will track service, network security and uptime.
