Now Reading: Odisha cabinet clears Rs 393.62 crore free Wi-Fi for 601 colleges
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Odisha cabinet clears Rs 393.62 crore free Wi-Fi for 601 colleges
The Story in Brief
The Odisha cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Monday (9 November) approved ‘Odisha Shikshanet’, a Rs 393.62 crore scheme to provide free high-speed Wi-Fi in 601 government and aided colleges over three years, from FY2026-27 to FY2028-29. Chief Secretary Anu Garg said every authenticated student will get up to 1 GB of free internet data daily within the campus for academic, research and skill development work.
Building on a first phase that covered 130 colleges, the expansion is expected to benefit more than six lakh students and faculty. The project includes Wi-Fi infrastructure, bandwidth provisioning, cybersecurity measures, and a centralised monitoring dashboard to track service delivery and network usage. Officials said the scheme, aligned with NEP 2020 and Digital India, aims particularly to help students in rural and remote areas reduce the digital divide.
Update, 10 November 2026: Times of India now reports the same cabinet approval, adding no new figures or statements. It confirms the Rs 393.62 crore outlay, the 601 colleges, the 1 GB daily free data per student, and the three-year implementation period from 2026-27 that all earlier sources stated.
Indian Opinion Analysis
All four outlets report the same facts from the Monday cabinet meeting: a Rs 393.62 crore scheme, 601 colleges, 1 GB free daily data per student, and a three-year rollout from 2026-27. Odishabytes and Business Standard name Chief Secretary Anu Garg as the source for the 1 GB figure and quote her directly, Times of India and Kalinga TV use the same data without direct quotes. Kalinga TV’s report is the briefest, embedding the scheme among 13 other cabinet approvals, while the others treat the Wi-Fi plan as the lead. No outlet challenges the official account or adds critical context about potential costs, implementation delays, or student demand. The coverage is uniform straight reporting with minor editorial variations in length and quote use. The scheme builds on a first phase of 130 colleges and aims to benefit over six lakh students, with a centralised monitoring dashboard planned for oversight.
Coverage: 4 sources, 4 neutral
Sources (4): odishabytes.com (neutral report), business-standard.com (neutral report), kalingatv.com (neutral report), timesofindia.indiatimes.com (neutral report)
This brief was synthesised by AI from the 4 sources linked above, so one read covers every framing they carry. Methodology and corrections.
