By Our Correspondent
BHUBANESWAR:With the joint support of the Government of India and the Government of Odisha, the My India Budget Quest 2026 program was organized virtually at Soa University today. It is worth noting that various quizzes and essay competitions related to budget were held in the My Bharat Budget Quest program. More than 1.2 million youth of the country participated in it. Out of these 1.2 million, 12,000 youth were awarded at the national level. 440 students from Odisha have been awarded. 440 awardees from Odisha participated in this program organized at Soa University today. Along with this, 25 awardees from Andaman also attended today’s program.
On this occasion, the role of youth, their contribution in nation building and the importance of budget awareness were discussed. Along with this, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji, in his address, highlighted the efforts made to achieve economic growth of the country, empower youth and build a developed India.
Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, who participated in this virtual event from Champua, urged the youth to become active partners in building the future of the country and the state. The Chief Minister said that this event is not just an event but a movement, which is increasing financial awareness and sense of responsibility among the youth.
The Chief Minister said that students in the country generally face various problems in the future as they are not given basic knowledge related to economics, banking and finance. In this context, programs like MY Bharat Budget Quest will make the youth aware about financial systems, FinTech and new technologies from the very beginning.
The Chief Minister mentioned that the Odisha government has made many important arrangements for the development of the youth, saying that this year the sports budget has been made at Rs. 1,359 crore, while Rs. 1,823 crore has been made for skill development and Rs. 1,895 crore for women empowerment. There are plans to set up world-class skill centers in Sambalpur and Berhampur and the youth will be trained in areas like IT, Agri-Tech, AI, Logistics and Advanced Manufacturing.
He added that Odisha is now emerging as a global sports hub in the field of sports. It is a matter of pride for Odisha that the World Indoor Athletics Championship will be held at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar in 2028. Along with this, Odisha has also proposed to host the Asian Indoor Athletics Championship, which will further strengthen the state in the international sports arena.
The Chief Minister said that PM Setu Yojana is being implemented to make our youth easily employable after graduation. Along with this, the Odisha government is undertaking skill development programs through various schemes like CM-ASPIRE, Sudaksha, Aadhaar ITI and Centre of Excellence.
Emphasizing women empowerment, the Chief Minister described the Women Power Act as a historic step and said that it will further strengthen Indian democracy. He advised the youth to support this effort and show respect for women power.
In the last phase of the program, the students present participated in a question-and-answer program with the Chief Minister. Among them, Tejaswini Raj, Chandraprasad Panda and Omprakash Rath asked the Chief Minister questions about the role of women in a progressive Odisha and India, the government’s approach in the field of sports and the usefulness of skill development, and the Chief Minister answered them. Highlighting the various steps taken by the state government in this regard, the Chief Minister said that the state government has focused on education, skill development and sports for the youth. In these three areas, the youth of Odisha will acquire world-class skills and our youth will be successful in leading a prosperous Odisha and a developed India, the Chief Minister said.
At the event, Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Mansukh Mandabhya expressed his gratitude to the Prime Minister through a virtual address and said that the youth have a lot of responsibility towards building a ‘Developed India’ by 2047. Along with this, he highlighted the need for ‘Budget Quest’ and emphasized how the ‘My India’ platform is helping in shaping the future of the youth.
The event was graced by the presence of Sports Commissioner and Secretary, Shri Bhupendra Singh Punia, Vice Chancellor of the University of Education and Research, Professor PK Nanda, and Regional Director of NSS, Bhubaneswar, Ms. Sarita Patel.
