Bhubaneswar, Aug 10 (IANS): Odisha government on Thursday announced to provide free textbooks to the students of all private and unaided Odia medium schools across the state from next academic year.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has directed concerned officials to implement the scheme as part of his government’s 5T initiative from the academic year 2024-25. The state government will provide free textbooks to the students from class I to VIII of all such schools, CMO said.

This will benefit more than 5 lakh students of 3620 private and unaided schools in the state. For this, the Odisha government will bear additional burden of Rs 9.43 crore annually.

It is worth noting that children studying in private Odisha medium schools have been performing well in the annual HSC Examinations and have also demonstrated their skills in various fields.

At present, the State Government has been providing free textbooks to students of all government and aided schools in the state and also providing free textbooks to Odia children in States like West Bengal, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat.