Bhubaneswar, Dec 31 (IANS) Odisha’s Higher Education Minister Suryabanshi Suraj said here on Tuesday that the Union government has sanctioned Rs 670 crore for the implementation of Pradhan Mantri Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (PM-USHA) in Odisha.
Besides this, the Minister also added that the Centre had sanctioned an additional one per cent, amounting to Rs 6.7 crore, for the state under the Management Monitoring Evaluation and Research (MMER) grant.
He said that the state would contribute 40 per cent (Rs 268 crore) of the total grant, while the Centre would contribute Rs 408.7 crore. He added that the state’s higher educational institutions will receive Rs 676.7 crore under the PM -USHA scheme.
He said that the PM-USHA scheme has been categorized under four components, which include Multi-Disciplinary Education and Research Universities (MERU), grants to strengthen universities (accredited and unaccredited) and colleges (accredited and unaccredited), gender inclusion and equity initiatives (GIEI).
The Minister said that four universities — Ravenshaw University in Cuttack, Berhampur University in Ganjam, Maharaja Sriram Chandra Bhanja Deo University in Mayurbhanj and Sambalpur University in Odisha will get Rs 100 crore each under the MERU category.
Financial assistance under MERU has been provided to strengthen the infrastructure and education and research facilities in these universities.
Universities in the five districts of Odisha—Vikram Deb Autonomous College (university) in Koraput, Rajendra University in Balangir, Kalahandi University in Kalahandi, Odisha State Open University, and Gangadhar Meher University in Sambalpur—have been sanctioned Rs 20 crore each under the grants to strengthen universities category.
In a similar way, the districts of Bhadrak, Kandhamal, Nabaranagpur, Mayurbhanj, and Sambalpur will receive Rs 10 crore each under the GIEI to motivate women and other deprived sections to pursue higher education through self-defence training programmes, skill enhancement workshops for self-employment, etc.
Under grants, as many as 24 colleges in various districts will be given Rs 5 crore each to strengthen the colleges category.
The Minister said that the funds provided under the PM-USHA scheme will be used to improve classrooms, libraries, hostel rooms, enhance accessibility for differently abled students, procure advanced laboratory equipment, etc., in the educational institutions in the state.
