Odisha to spend Rs 2,628.51 crore on model school project

Tata company would set up 30 model schools while the Odisha Mining Corporation and JSPL would construct 25 and ten schools each

The Odisha government said it will spend Rs 2,628.51 crore for establishment of model schools in all 314 blocks in the state in the next five years.

"We have earmarked Rs 2,628.51 crore for building infrastructures of model schools in five years and the corporate sector of the state has evinced interest in the construction work," School and Mass Education Minister Debi Prasad Mishra said, replying to a question in the Assembly.

Mishra said the Tata company would set up 30 model schools while the Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) and JSPL would construct 25 and ten schools each respectively.

The minister alleged that though the model school project was launched during the previous government at the Centre, the NDA government stopped funding for the scheme.

The state government, however, has decided to carry forward the programme, he said.

The Opposition, however, alleged that the state government was not serious about setting up more colleges for differently-abled students.

There are only two such colleges in the state and the students after completion of their 10th standard have to stop education, they alleged.

Congress MLA Krushna Chandra Sagaria demanded schools for the differently-abled be established in Odisha similar to the Karnataka model.