351 EUROPEAN ACADEMIC RESEARCH, VOL. I, ISSUE 4/ JULY 2013 ISSN 2286-4822, www.euacademic.org IMPACT FACTOR: 0.485 (GIF) Understanding of Higher Education in Transitional Society: A Case Study of Rural Odisha, India ASHOK DANSANA Faculty of Education University of Delhi Delhi, India Abstract: Higher education is considered as an asset for an individual for his maximum growth and meaningful affiliation. It is that capital and instrument which makes possible for a society and nation to deal with adversaries and complexities in an effective manner. Taking the instrumentality and capacity of higher education into confidence, nations across the world are trying to make it accessible to their considerable population. One of the consequences of that is, in the recent decades, higher education has been given importance in India’s developmental plans. India has been endeavouring to make it inclusive in terms of accessibility and quality. One of the very clear agendas of giving importance to higher education in this country during formulation of various developmental policies in the recent times is to ensure that the people of the lower ladder of society could participate in it and make them adapted in the competitive environment posed by knowledge society and forces of globalization. But the paradox is that due to certain existing discrepancies in those ambitious policies and their implementations these people are developing negative connotation of higher education. The negative understanding and underestimation of higher education by these people is not a positive sign for the society which is considered to be at the lower ladder in particular and for India in general, which aspires to establish a knowledge society in near future. Key words: higher education, transitional society, Odisha