Odisha cabinet launches free textbook scheme for 28.7 lakh students and a ₹500 crore urban drainage plan

At a cabinet meeting in Bhubaneswar, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi oversaw the approval of 16 proposals spanning 11 departments. Among them, the School and Mass Education Department will provide free textbooks to roughly 28.7 lakh students in classes 9 and 10 of government and aided schools, extending benefits beyond existing SC/ST provisions; the five-year scheme is budgeted at ₹284.07 crore. The government also sanctioned a ₹500 crore Urban Storm Water Drainage Management and Improvement Programme, slated for 2026-27 to 2030-31, to desilt drains, construct reinforced concrete channels and link natural waterways, aiming to lessen urban flooding and enhance groundwater recharge.

A Disaster Recovery-cum-Data Centre will be built in Keonjhar to safeguard critical digital services, costing over ₹176 crore with funding from the Fifth State Finance Commission. Finally, a ₹105 crore tender was approved for an in-stream water storage project on the Tel river at Tustapali village in Bolangir district to address chronic water scarcity.