BHUBANESWAR: Education and Skill sectors received a mammoth allocation of Rs 27,324 crore in the State budget for 2022-23 fiscal, posting a 12 per cent rise over the previous year. Finance Minister Niranjan Pujari said thrust has been given to Samagra Sikshya programme with a proposed allocation of Rs 3,581 crore. Around Rs 851 crore will be spent for mid-day meal scheme to which the government will provide an additional support of Rs 90 crore to meet the cooking cost.
The government has also set aside Rs 193 crore under the Gangadhar Meher Sikhya Manakbrudhi Yojana for providing free school bags to all children of Class I to V, free text books and school uniform including shoes to all children of Class I to VIII and free bicycles to all Class IX students of government and government-aided schools, Sanskrit-tols and madrasas.
Pujari said Rs 646 crore will be spent under Mo School Abhiyan and Rs 100 crore under 5T High School Transformation programme. Besides, Rs 79 crore will be spent on development of smart classrooms in 100 schools. The Finance Minister said apart from the existing 250 Odisha Adarsha Vidyalayas (OAVs), 64 new OAVs and one Iconic OAV at Andharua, Bhubaneswar will be made functional in 2022-23 academic session. A budget of Rs 420 crore has been allocated for establishment and running these schools, he said. Government will also spend Rs 642 crore for pre-matric and post-matric scholarships to around 19 lakh ST, SC, and OBC meritorious students.