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Mission Akankhya has been launched in Kalahandi, Odisha, where selected civil services aspirants will receive free coaching each year in collaboration with Vision IAS.
Mission Akankhya launched in Kalahandi, Odisha, offering free UPSC coaching with Vision IAS.
A select group of civil services aspirants in Kalahandi district of Odisha will receive free coaching every year under the newly launched initiative, ‘Mission Akankhya’, officials confirmed on Saturday. The programme is a collaborative effort between the Kalahandi district administration and Vision IAS, New Delhi, formalised through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed on the occasion of Independence Day.
Under the initiative, the district administration will provide infrastructure facilities, while Vision IAS will deliver free coaching to 60 students annually, selected through a written test and interview. The coaching will be offered in both classroom and online modes. Registrations for the programme will commence on August 22, with the selection examination scheduled for September 21. Classes for the selected students are set to begin in Bhawanipatna from the first week of October, officials added.
This is the first initiative of its kind in Odisha. Vision IAS has previously undertaken similar programmes in aspirational districts of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan, providing free coaching to deserving students in interior regions. Kalahandi has been identified by NITI Aayog as an aspirational district for focused development under the Aspirational Districts Programme (ADP).
Meanwhile, addressing the fourth convocation of the Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) in Kota’s Ranpur area, former Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar criticised coaching institutes, describing them as “poaching centres” and a “black hole for talent.”
“I urge civil societies (and) public representatives to appreciate the urgency of this disease (coaching). We must converge to restore sanity in education,” Dhankhar said, emphasising the need for reform in the coaching ecosystem.
“Let Kota be an education centre and not be hub of poaching or coaching centres,” he added. “The seats are limited, and coaching centres are all over the country. They…robotise our students, making their thinking absolutely stifled,” Dhankhar lamented.
He further reminded students of the value of learning beyond marks, saying, “Remember, your marksheet (and) grade(s) will never define you. When you leap into the competitive world, your knowledge and thinking mind will define you.”
The launch of Mission Akankhya in Kalahandi aims to provide equitable access to quality civil services coaching, ensuring that talented students in remote areas have an opportunity to compete on equal footing with aspirants from more developed regions.
(With inputs from PTI)
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