Bhubaneswar: After degree colleges and universities, now Plus II colleges of the state have been asked to open equal opportunity cells (EOCs) from this year.
The School and Mass Education (S&ME) department has recently issued an order in this regard.
As per the order, each government and grant-in-aid (GIA) Plus II colleges have to open an EOC, complying with the University Grants Commission (UGC) guidelines.
The cell will work towards providing equal opportunities to students belonging to SC/ST communities, girls and also to the differently-abled ones, official sources said.
Earlier, the state government had announced awards for government and private educational institutions to push for setting up EOCs.
Each institute that sets up the cell will be provided `50,000 while an additional `50,000 would be provided as scholarships to the persons with disabilities (PWDs).
Similarly, the government has waived off all academic fees (excluding mess charges) for the students with disabilities of 40 per cent or more. The expenditure for this purpose will be met by the institution concerned from its own resources, the source said.
The government would also provide scribe, reader and lab assistants to such students during all examinations, they said.
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