Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Thursday, 12 November 2026, inaugurated the state-level children's festival Suravi-2026 at Capital High School in Bhubaneswar, also presenting the Chief Minister's Education Awards to meritorious individuals and institutions. The three-day event, running from 12 to 14 November, has drawn more than 2,500 students from across Odisha to celebrate talent, creativity, and innovation.

Festival theme and scale

Organised by the School and Mass Education Department, Suravi-2026 is being held under the theme 'Samruddha Bhasha, Samruddha Odisha' (Prosperous Language, Prosperous Odisha). The festival serves as a platform for students to exhibit their creative and innovative capabilities at the state level, bringing together participants from every district of Odisha.

CM Majhi's message to students

Addressing students, teachers, and parents at the ceremony, Chief Minister Majhi called the event 'a grand confluence of children's dreams, creativity, talent and immense possibilities,' rather than merely an ordinary children's festival. He stressed that parents and teachers bear a 'sacred duty' to mould children into responsible citizens through education, training, guidance, and values.

Majhi urged students to shift their focus away from the 'rat race for government jobs or trying to secure higher marks.' 'Students should focus on making themselves capable, competent and qualified, because it is skills, not degrees, that provide the real guarantee of employment,' he said. He also cautioned that mobile phones should be used as a tool for acquiring knowledge, not as a means of entertainment.

The Chief Minister further noted that Odisha's rapid industrialisation would generate lakhs of employment opportunities, and called on students to prepare themselves to capitalise on them.

Robotics labs, awards and scholarships

In a significant policy push, Majhi launched the NIPUN App and inaugurated robotics laboratories in 807 schools across the state. The laboratories, established at a cost of ₹164.33 crore, will provide students of Classes VI to X with hands-on exposure to robotics, coding, Artificial Intelligence, machine learning, and 3D printing.

The Chief Minister honoured 375 individuals and institutions under the 'Mukhyamantri Shikhya Puraskar' awards for contributions to the education sector in 2024 and 2025. A total incentive amount of ₹138.97 crore has been disbursed under the scheme from the block level to the state level. Nabarangpur, Cuttack, and Kalahandi districts were recognised with the prestigious awards.

Under the Chief Minister's Odia Language Scholarship scheme, 7,350 meritorious students across Odisha are receiving annual scholarships of ₹7,500 each. At the ceremony, ten meritorious students and four CHSE toppers were felicitated, alongside the distribution of Odia Language Scholarships to encourage excellence in the study of the Odia language.

What this means for Odisha's education landscape

The launch of robotics laboratories in over 800 schools marks a notable step in embedding STEM and AI-linked skills at the secondary school level — a priority the state government has framed explicitly around future employability. This comes amid broader efforts by the Odisha government to align school education with the demands of the state's expanding industrial base. With guidelines and infrastructure now in place, the focus will shift to implementation quality and whether the labs translate into measurable learning outcomes across diverse districts.