Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on 3 June 2026 announced that the formal memorandum for a sweeping expansion of reservation in engineering, medical and other professional courses has been issued, taking effect from the 2026-27 academic year. Posting in Odia on X, the BJP Chief Minister called it a 'memorable day in Odisha's history of social reform and education' and framed the revision as a delivery on the government's 'Antyodaya' and 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas' commitments.

Context

The Chief Minister said that even 79 years after Independence, meritorious students from Scheduled Tribes (ST), Scheduled Castes (SC) and Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) in Odisha had been denied their due share in technical and vocational education. He argued that previous governments lacked the political will to expand quotas in engineering and medical streams, and that SEBC students in particular had 'kounasi sanrakshana byabasthaa hin nathila' (no reservation arrangement at all).

Under the revised matrix announced in the post, the ST quota in professional courses moves from 12% to 22.5%, the SC quota from 8% to 16.25%, and SEBC students — previously outside the professional-course reservation net — receive a fresh 11.25% reservation. The combined effect substantially enlarges the reserved pool in engineering and medical admissions in the state.

Policy backdrop

Odisha had long applied a mix of central reservation norms and state-specific adjustments in higher education, with SC and ST percentages set well below the demographic share of these communities in the state. Scheduled Tribes alone account for an estimated 22.8% of Odisha's population, a gap that the new ST quota of 22.5% appears designed to close.

The Chief Minister credited the shift to the cabinet decision taken within two years of the new BJP government assuming office in June 2024, the party's first stint leading Odisha after the 2024 assembly polls. He described the revision as the correction of a 'long-standing injustice' and a step towards a 'sarbasparshi o sarbasamabeshi' (all-touching and all-inclusive) Odisha.

Stakeholders and impact

The immediate beneficiaries are SC, ST and SEBC aspirants competing for seats in state engineering colleges, medical colleges and other professional institutions from the 2026-27 admission cycle. SEBC students, who till now did not have a dedicated quota in professional streams in the state, stand to gain access for the first time.

General-category aspirants in Odisha will face a recalibrated open-merit pool as the reserved share rises. Institutions will need to revise seat matrices, counselling rules and prospectuses to align with the new percentages. The Chief Minister's post indicates that the cabinet's decision has now moved into the implementation phase with the issuance of the statutory memorandum.

'Not a single meritorious student in the state should be denied the chance to fulfil their dream because of their social or economic background,' Majhi wrote, adding that the government would 'ensure' this outcome. He invited citizens to join in building a 'prosperous, empowered and inclusive Odisha' in step with the country's growth trajectory.

What's next

Attention now turns to the formal gazette notification, the revised seat matrices for engineering and medical counselling, and operational guidelines for SEBC certification and verification — a category newly introduced into the professional-course quota system. Admission authorities will need to integrate the changes before the 2026-27 entrance and counselling rounds begin.

The enhanced percentages may also invite scrutiny on the overall reservation ceiling and the manner in which the SEBC list is defined in Odisha, a recurring theme in Indian higher-education jurisprudence. How smoothly the state rolls out the revised matrix — and how aspirants, institutions and courts respond — will shape the political dividend the Chief Minister hopes to draw from this 'Antyodaya' push.