Odisha Government Extends Support to Orphans for Higher Education Pursuits

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Government has taken a significant step to ensure that orphans face no financial barriers in pursuing Undergraduate and Postgraduate degrees. Aravind Agarwal, Secretary Higher Education, has issued detailed guidelines outlining the state’s support for this initiative.

Under the Gopabandhu Sikshya Sahayata Yojana (GSSY), the State Government has been providing financial assistance to various vulnerable groups. Responding to the increasing demand for higher education among these groups, the government has expanded the eligibility criteria to include three new categories.

The newly added categories are:

Specially Cared Child: Orphan children without any biological, adoptive, or legal parents.
Students belonging to the Transgender Community.
Girl Students rescued by the Department of Women & Child Development, continuing to stay in a shelter home for rehabilitation or hostel.
The Department of Higher Education has released detailed guidelines for the inclusion of these categories in the GSSY scheme.

Starting from the academic year 2023-24, students falling under these three new categories will be eligible to receive financial support for their higher education pursuits, as per an official communiqué.

Under the GSSY, the State Government is already providing support to families impacted by HIV/AIDS, homeless households, begging or destitute families, particularly vulnerable tribal groups (PVTG), legally emancipated bonded laborers’ families, and families led by single mothers due to widowhood, divorce, or being unmarried.

The addition of the new categories aims to extend the benefits of the GSSY to a wider range of vulnerable groups, as confirmed by officials. The Department of Social Security and Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (SSEPD) and the Department of Women & Child Development have been informed about the inclusion of these new groups, and eligible students from these categories will be able to avail themselves of the benefits provided by GSSY.