Bhubaneshwar: In a significant push to bolster digital education infrastructure, the Odisha Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, has approved the rollout of the INR 393.62-crore ‘Odisha Shikshanet’ scheme to provide free Wi-Fi connectivity across higher educational institutions in the state.Under the ‘Odisha Shikshanet’ initiative, free Wi-Fi facilities will be set up in 601 government and aided colleges across Odisha over a three-year implementation period spanning financial years 2026-27 to 2028-29, according to the state Information and Public Relations (I&PR) Department.As part of the scheme, authenticated students will be entitled to up to 1 GB of free high-speed internet data per day within their college campuses. The initiative is slated to benefit more than 6 lakh students and faculty members by facilitating seamless access to digital learning platforms, e-libraries, and online academic resources.The approval was part of a series of 13 policy and developmental decisions cleared during the Cabinet meeting aimed at strengthening education, governance, and public infrastructure across the state.CM said the vision of ‘Viksit Bharat’ requires a ‘Samruddha Odisha’, which in turn depends on prosperous, safe, clean, inclusive and economically vibrant cities. He stressed the need for future urban planning to keep the needs of the growing urban population at the centre.He said MoUs have been signed between Odisha Urban Academy and Sri Sri University, CRUT and Sri Sri University, Odisha Urban Academy and Indian School of Business (ISB), and Odisha Urban Academy and National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) to strengthen knowledge, research and capacity in urban planning.The CM said the OSWAN Video Conferencing facility is being launched in 115 ULBs to make communication between the state government and urban local bodies faster and more efficient. He also launched the ‘Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Bandhu’ programme.
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