The Odisha government said the Jayanodaya scheme of free education from kindergarten (KG) to postgraduate (PG) level will be subject to a minimum of 75% class attendance, excluding professional courses, private institutions and self-financing programmes.
State Higher Education Minister Suryabanshi Suraj said that no student will be deprived of quality education due to financial constraints, but the beneficiaries will have to fulfill eligibility conditions. Students are required to maintain an attendance rate of at least 75%, even if the requirement is relaxed to a minimum of 65% in exceptional cases.
The fee waiver will only apply to eligible regular courses in government universities, government colleges and sponsored private colleges, said Suraj, who issued the standard operating procedures (SOP) for the scheme on Tuesday. Vocational and technical courses, teacher education programmes, self-financing courses, unaided private institutions, correspondence programmes, and courses conducted under the public-private partnership model were excluded.
Under this scheme, the government will compensate institutions for admission-related fees, including registration and re-registration fees, as well as fees collected for library, ID cards, semester fees, college development, etc. Students will continue to pay examination and hostel fees.
Students who paid the acceptance fee during the first round of admission will receive refunds directly into the bank accounts from which the payments were made. Those wishing to change their bank account details will be allowed to do so before the refund is processed.
The government will compensate the institutions in installments during each academic year, with 10% being disbursed after acceptance, followed by 15%, and the remaining amount in three equal installments of 25% each.
The SOP prohibits public universities, government colleges and private aided colleges from reviewing fees for regular courses covered by the Jayanodaya scheme. Institutions seeking to review fees in exceptional circumstances must obtain approval from the Fees Regulatory Committee.
