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Odisha waives admission fees for SC, ST students in state-run medical and engineering colleges

Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi has directed that Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe students will not have to pay fees at the time of admission to state-run medical and engineering colleges, or for six months thereafter. The move aims to ease financial burdens that often delay or block admissions for meritorious students awaiting scholarship disbursements.

By Tertius News AI Desk 2 distinct · 2 mastheads · 2 articles Version 1 Coverage Aug 31 – Sep 1, 2026 Published 1h ago

Fee waiver for SC, ST students in Odisha colleges

Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi has directed that students from Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities will not have to pay any fees at the time of admission to government medical and engineering colleges, and for a period of six months after admission. The decision, announced on Monday, is intended to ensure that financial constraints do not prevent eligible students from taking up seats after clearing competitive examinations.

According to an official release, Majhi issued the direction after learning that many meritorious SC and ST students face financial difficulties during admissions even after cracking tough entrance exams. A guideline in this regard will be issued by the state government soon, the release added.

The Times of India reported that the waiver applies to poor but meritorious students seeking admission to state-run medical and engineering colleges, covering both enrolment fees and fees for the next six months. Officials cited in the report said many such students face hardship at the time of admission because scholarship amounts from the Centre and state are usually released only after completion of formalities, a process that often takes three to four months.

The decision is expected to benefit students who qualify for admission but struggle to arrange money for immediate expenses, the report said.

Case of a tribal student highlights the issue

The Times of India report highlighted the case of Kabita Hikaka, a 19-year-old daughter of a daily-wager from Sahada village under Bissamcuttack block in Rayagada district. Hikaka cracked the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) this year, securing an ST rank of 137 and an overall rank of 4,027, earning an MBBS seat at Saheed Laxman Nayak Medical College and Hospital in Koraput. Her admission was scheduled between August 28 and September 6.

Following a report in The Times of India, Hikaka received financial help from several quarters for her admission. The report noted that her case is not isolated, and that in previous years several SC and ST students have found themselves in similar situations, with some forced to discontinue their studies midway due to delays or a lack of financial assistance.

Social activist Susanta Sahoo was quoted in The Times of India as saying, "Government assistance can make a huge difference in helping such students continue their education."

Background and expected impact

The waiver comes amid broader concerns about the financial challenges faced by SC and ST students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds in securing admissions to state-run medical and engineering colleges. The Times of India report said many such students face significant challenges due to financial constraints, and the decision is expected to benefit those who qualify for admission but struggle to arrange money for immediate expenses.

The state government is likely to issue detailed guidelines regarding the fee waiver soon, according to both ThePrint and The Times of India reports.

How each outlet told it

A framing line is our reading of that outlet's own text — an interpretation, not a quotation and not a fact we assert. Check it against what the outlet published.

ThePrint

Framing: The headline emphasizes the policy announcement that ST and SC students will not have to pay admission fees in government medical and engineering colleges, attributing the decision to the Odisha Chief Minister.

as of Sep 1, 2026, 4:46 AM UTC

Facts Included:

Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi has said students belonging to ST and SC communities will not have to deposit any fee at the time of admission in government medical and engineering colleges.
Majhi issued the direction on Monday after learning that many meritorious Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe students face financial difficulties during admissions even after cracking tough entrance exams.
A guideline in this regard will be issued by the state government soon.

Read the source article →

The Times of India

Framing: Government eases financial burden on SC-ST medical and engineering aspirants — sympathetic and supportive

as of Aug 31, 2026, 7:16 PM UTC

Facts Included:

Poor but meritorious students from Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities seeking admission to state-run medical and engineering colleges will not have to pay fees at the time of enrolment or for the next six months.
Chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi has issued directions in this regard.
Scholarship amounts from the Centre and state are usually released only after completion of formalities, which often takes three to four months.
The decision is expected to benefit students who qualify for admission but struggle to arrange money for immediate expenses.
Kabita Hikaka (19), daughter of a daily-wager from Sahada village under Bissamcuttack block in Rayagada district, cracked the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) this year, securing an ST rank of 137 and overall 4,027, earning an MBBS seat at Saheed Laxman Nayak Medical College and Hospital, Koraput.
Following the TOI report, Hikaka, however, received financial help from several quarters for her admission scheduled between Aug 28 and Sept 6.
In previous years, several SC and ST students have found themselves in similar situations.
Some have even been forced to discontinue their studies midway due to delays or a lack of financial assistance.
Social activist Susanta Sahoo said, "Government assistance can make a huge difference in helping such students continue their education."

Read the source article →

What was claimed, and who backed it

AI-extracted; can misattribute a claim — see Methodology.

Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status is Contested when two claims on this page negate each other; otherwise it counts the distinct outlets we found asserting that specific claim — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.

Claim	Confidence	Status
ClaimPoor but meritorious students from Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities seeking admission to state-run medical and engineering colleges in Odisha will not have to pay fees at the time of enrolment or for the next six months.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via The Times of India as of Aug 31, 2026, 7:16 PM UTC, ThePrint as of Sep 1, 2026, 4:46 AM UTC
ClaimOdisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi issued directions that SC and ST students will not have to pay fees at the time of admission.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via ThePrint as of Sep 1, 2026, 4:46 AM UTC, The Times of India as of Aug 31, 2026, 7:16 PM UTC
ClaimScholarship amounts from the Centre and state are usually released only after completion of formalities, which often takes three to four months.	ConfidenceMedium	StatusSingle-source via The Times of India as of Aug 31, 2026, 7:16 PM UTC
ClaimThe decision is expected to benefit students who qualify for admission but struggle to arrange money for immediate expenses.	ConfidenceMedium	StatusSingle-source via The Times of India as of Aug 31, 2026, 7:16 PM UTC
ClaimKabita Hikaka (19), daughter of a daily-wager from Sahada village under Bissamcuttack block in Rayagada district, cracked the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) this year, securing an ST rank of 137 and overall 4,027, earning an MBBS seat at Saheed Laxman Nayak Medical College and Hospital, Koraput.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via The Times of India as of Aug 31, 2026, 7:16 PM UTC
ClaimFollowing the TOI report, Kabita Hikaka received financial help from several quarters for her admission scheduled between Aug 28 and Sept 6.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via The Times of India as of Aug 31, 2026, 7:16 PM UTC
ClaimIn previous years, several SC and ST students have been forced to discontinue their studies midway due to delays or a lack of financial assistance.	ConfidenceMedium	StatusSingle-source via The Times of India as of Aug 31, 2026, 7:16 PM UTC
ClaimSocial activist Susanta Sahoo said that government assistance can make a huge difference in helping such students continue their education.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via The Times of India as of Aug 31, 2026, 7:16 PM UTC
ClaimKabita Hikaka's admission at Saheed Laxman Nayak Medical College and Hospital was scheduled between Aug 28 and Sept 6.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via The Times of India as of Aug 31, 2026, 7:16 PM UTC
ClaimFollowing the TOI report, Kabita Hikaka received financial help from several people.	ConfidenceMedium	StatusSingle-source via The Times of India as of Aug 31, 2026, 7:16 PM UTC
ClaimThe state government is likely to issue detailed guidelines regarding the fee waiver soon.	ConfidenceMedium	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via The Times of India as of Aug 31, 2026, 7:16 PM UTC, ThePrint as of Sep 1, 2026, 4:46 AM UTC
ClaimOdisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi issued the direction on Monday after learning that many Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe students face financial difficulties during admissions even after cracking entrance exams.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via ThePrint as of Sep 1, 2026, 4:46 AM UTC

Transparency & Audit Trail

2 distinct · 2 mastheads · 2 articles consulted: ThePrint, The Times of India 12 claims extracted Version 1 Written 2026-09-01