Berhampur: Odisha Prison Training School was set up in Berhampur in 1984 with an aim to train recruits to run prisons in the state. Now, there is a plan to shut this training institute and merge it with another bigger one at Bhubaneswar, elsewhere, a report said.
The 36-year-old training school is located on the way to Shilpanchal Road. Over 50 batches of students have successfully completed their training under this institute and were engaged in different jails in the state.
Locals feel sad to know that the government is planning to shift the institute. The state government has set up Mahatma Gandhi Prison Academy in Bhubaneswar.
According to the official announcement, this prison training school will be merged with the academy. Some staff and assets have already been shifted to the academy.
As a result, this old training school is going to be shut forever.
Locals have been opposing this plan. In March, members of Ganjam Zilla Bikash Manch submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister, opposing the merger of this old institute with the Bhubaneswar-based academy.
It was alleged that the government has not taken any step in this regard.
Earlier, people were told that the second campus of the prison academy will function at this institute. Sadly, there is no formal announcement in this regard till date, locals lamented.
The institute is almost dysfunctional with some staff guarding the training school. All kinds of facilities are still here for training of the prison personnel.
The institute has been equipped with well-trained instructors and trainers with good classrooms, a library, a parade ground and, separate hostels for male and female trainees.
When asked about the fate of this old prison training institute, superintendent of the circle jail Kulamani Behera said that a plan is afoot to merge this institute with the academy in Bhubaneswar, but there is no report about how far this plan has been worked upon.
PNN