Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government is planning SEBC reservation in professional education. A major reform in its reservation framework for professional education, with a proposal to introduce an 11.25% reservation for Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) and substantially increase quotas for Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) students. If approved, the new policy will come into effect from the 2026–27 academic session and will apply to medical, technical, and other professional courses across the state.
The move is aimed at improving equitable access to high-demand education streams while bringing uniformity across departments. The recommendations were cleared unanimously by the Policy Planning Committee of the Skill Development and Technical Education (SDTE) department.
Odisha SEBC reservation in professional education Gets Policy
The Policy Planning Committee of the SDTE department, chaired by Bhupinder Singh Poonia, recently held a key meeting where several landmark changes were approved. Among the most significant recommendations is the introduction of an 11.25% SEBC quota across all technical, professional, and medical courses.
At the same time, the panel proposed a sharp increase in SC and ST reservations in these streams, raising the combined quota from the existing 20% to 38.5%. Officials said the proposal responds to long-standing demands for better representation of backward communities in professional education.
SC and ST Reservation Hike Across Courses
Under the proposed changes, reservations for SC and ST students will be nearly doubled in both technical and medical disciplines to ensure parity with existing structures in other education streams.
For technical and professional courses such as BTech, MBA, and MCA, the SC quota is proposed to increase from 8% to 16.25%, while the ST quota would rise from 12% to 22.5%. Similar increases have been recommended for medical-related streams, including medical, dental, pharmacy, Ayurveda, and homeopathy courses.
The committee, however, clarified that there will be no change in reservation percentages for diploma engineering, PDIS, and nursing courses, as these already follow the proposed SC and ST quota levels.
Alignment With NEP and Inter-Departmental Uniformity
One of the key objectives of the proposal is to bring consistency across departments. The SDTE and Health departments are expected to align their reservation policies with that of the Higher Education department, which approved a similar SEBC quota last year in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
Officials said the lack of uniformity had earlier created disparities across disciplines, particularly affecting access to technical and healthcare education for socially backward groups.
Implementation Timeline and Admission Structure
According to Odisha SEBC reservation in professional education committee members MLA Santosh Khatua and Biju Patnaik University of Technology Vice-Chancellor Amiya Kumar Rath, the recommendations will now be forwarded to the state government for final approval.
If cleared, the revised seat matrix will be implemented from the 2026–27 academic year. Currently, admissions in Odisha follow a combination of vertical reservations (SC, ST, OBC, EWS) and horizontal reservations for categories such as ex-servicemen, persons with disabilities, Green Card holders, and students from government schools.
The proposed reforms are expected to significantly reshape access to professional education in Odisha, ensuring broader inclusion while addressing long-pending demands for SEBC representation.
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