Odisha cabinet approves free Wi-Fi scheme for 601 colleges
The Odisha Shikshanet programme will provide students with 1 GB of daily internet data starting from the 2026-27 financial year.
The Odisha state cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, on Monday approved the ‘Odisha Shikshanet’ scheme to provide free, secure, and high-speed Wi-Fi to 601 government and aided colleges. According to The New Indian Express, the project has a total outlay of Rs 393.63 crore and will run for three years from 2026-27 to 2028-29.
Under the initiative, students on campus will be able to access up to 1 GB of internet data every day. Chief secretary Anu Garg said the programme is intended to assist more than six lakh students and faculty members, specifically targeting those from economically weaker, rural, and remote areas to help bridge the digital divide.
The scheme builds on a previous phase that covered 130 colleges. The project includes installing Wi-Fi infrastructure, managing bandwidth, ensuring cybersecurity, and providing ongoing maintenance. A centralised dashboard will be used to monitor network security, uptime, and service delivery.
Chief secretary Garg stated the facility will allow users to access digital libraries, e-books, virtual classrooms, and research databases. It will also support e-governance services such as the Student Academic Management System (SAMS) and the Higher Education Information Management System (HIMS).
The initiative is aligned with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the Digital India programme. In a separate decision, the cabinet also approved the food and paddy procurement policy for the 2026-27 kharif season, setting a target of 78 lakh tonne of paddy.