Odisha offers 11.25% reservations for SEBC students

Former Union Minister and senior Congress leader Srikant Jena criticized the measure as insufficient in his letter to the main minister Majhi. File | Image source: ANI

In a major policy decision, the Odisha government approved a proposal on Wednesday (May 14, 2025) to introduce a 11.25% reservation (SEBC) to students from socially and economically backward classes (SEBCs) to recruit state-owned and state-funded higher education institutions.

The decision approved by the national cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, will be implemented in 2025-26. The booking will be available to state public universities, government and support schools and higher secondary schools and colleges in the sectors of popular education, higher education, Odia Languages, Literature and Culture, and Sports and Youth Services.

The move is intended to ensure uniformity across categories of reservations, the government statement said. The new policy is consistent with the booking structure with a booking structure of 22.5%, with a booking caste (SC) of 16.25%, SEBC of 11.25%, persons with disabilities (PWD) of 5%, and former waiters of 1%.

“The initiative aims to promote access, equity and inclusion, increase enrollment (GER), and to increase opportunities for marginalized and disadvantaged communities in Odisha according to the national education policy in 2020,” the statement stated.

Odisha has so far provided no reservations for education for SEBC/OBC students, although long-term requirements throughout the political field have required the implementation of a 27% quota.

In the employment sector, the state earlier offered a 27% reservation to OBC/SEBC candidates in 1994. However, this was overturned after the 1998 judgment of the Odisha Administrative Tribunal and later maintained in 2007 by the High Court. Since then, the SEBC’s judgment on retaining SEBC in public employment has remained at 11.25%.

Former Union Minister and senior Congress leader Srikant Jena criticized the measure as insufficient in his letter to the main minister Majhi. He noted that SEBC accounts for nearly 54% of Odisha’s population and accused the continuous government of neglecting its right to education.

Mr Jena claimed: “As a lack of proper reservations, more than 7,000 SEBC students lost medical seats and turned down nearly 50,000 jobs.”