Bhubaneswar, June 3 -- In a major boost for social inclusion in Higher Education, the Odisha government has announced enhanced reservation for Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), and Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) students in technical and professional courses.

The revised reservation policy will come into effect from the current academic session and cover a wide range of institutions and programmes.

Under the new policy, reservation for ST students has been increased from 12% to 22.5%, while the quota for SC students has been raised from 8% to 16.25%. For the first time, SEBC students will receive 11.25% reservation in technical and professional education, where no such provision existed earlier.

The deci...