Odisha government today raised the reservation ratio for students belonging to schedule tribe and scheduled caste in educational institutions to 38.75 per cent from 20 per cent.



Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik approved a proposal in this regard, a release issued by the Chief Minister's Office said, adding that the new decision would be implemented from the 2015-16 academic year.



The government's decision would be applicable for all the educational institutes run either by the government or private owners in the state.



The ST and SC students would get the facility in higher studies like medical and engineering colleges and universities, said Durga Prasad Behera, the additional secretary in higher education department.



While only eight per cent of the seats were earlier reserved for the SC candidates in educational institutions, now they would avail 16.25 per cent of seats in any college.



Similarly, the ratio of reservation for ST students was enhanced to 22.5 per cent from 12 per cent.



"We had submitted a proposal with the government to enhance the reservation ratio for the ST and SC students as per their percentage in the state's population," Behera said.