Mass demonstration n Assembly gherao for demand @ Compulsory to admission of Govt. Employees children in govt. Schools. On 8th December at Bhubaneswar...

Mass demonstration n Assembly gherao for demand
@ Compulsory to admission of Govt. Employees children in govt. Schools. 
On 8th December at Bhubaneswar...

Odisha was virtually waiting to see this happen. At least two inmates died every 10 days in Odisha jails last year. The State dubiously topped the country with a high of 44 unnatural deaths of jail inmates in 2014 and Uttar Pradesh with around half the number followed it.

However, death of an undertrial prisoner in the high-profile Jharpada Central Jail has virtually unlocked the Pandora’s box of goings-in inside State jails when Odisha was bracketed along with Arunachal Pradesh in the country with minimum medical inspections.

Medical inspections last year in Odisha jails were only four in every hundred days. This revelation was made by Prison Statistics of India (PSI) – 2014, which was released recently by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).

As per the NCRB data, when Odisha saw just 15 medical inspections across the jails in 365 days in 2014, Uttar Pradesh ensured around 498 visits last year.

Moreover, when nationally medical inspections account for over 41 per cent of total jail inspections, the corresponding proportion in Odisha is a mere 9 per cent. What makes this a grave slip-up is, in Odisha for a whopping 115 jail inmates there is only one medical staff. The reason: Of the sanctioned around 90 medical officers, only 41 are in position.

Human rights activists claim that most of the 43 natural deaths of inmates in jails in Odisha last year were due to medical negligence, but jail authorities in the garb of ‘manufactured’ medical history of inmates could dodge the rights panel radar.

The slipshod in jails inspections in the State extends even beyond that of the medical arena. When for every 119 jail inmates the State has only one correctional staff, Odisha along with Sikkim is the only State nationally to virtually record zero visits by any correctional expert/psychiatrist visitor to jails last year.

If NCRB report is any indication, the State cuts a sorry figure nationally in almost all such inspections mandated under Sections 59 of the Prisons Act 1894  to ensure protection of human rights of jail inmates. For instance, even in the routine inspections purportedly undertaken by executive officers led by District Magistrates (DM), the State with mere 10 visits in every 100 days managed to stay ahead of only few north-eastern States and Union territories. Chhattisgarh ensured around 123 executive visits in 2014 against mere 38 by Odisha.

More significant is when a State like Bihar recorded at least one judicial inspection of jails every day last year, Odisha could arrange for a measly three visits in as many as ten days, reveals the PSI-2014.

It’s worth mentioning that when the Odisha Government spends around Rs 27, 908 per inmate, each inmate fetches revenue of Rs 751 for the Government through sale of goods produced by them. Interestingly, Bihar spent around Rs 57,700 on each inmate and in return each inmate brought revenue worth Rs 5,032 for the Government. The sorry state of jail affairs could further be well-ascertained from the fact of only 36 CCTVs in 91 jails in Odisha against a whopping 599 CCTVs for a mere 58 jails in Bihar.

http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/bhubaneswar/odisha-tops-in-jail-inmates-unnatural-death.html

   Bhubaneswar,August19:Block grant school teachers association today protested in front of the State Assembly today, demanding the Grant-in-order 1994 in all eligible schools.

According to sources, four thousand school teachers across the state has been gheraoed the state assembly and continued protest against the demand.

The teachers and teachers' association of State staged a huge rally  demanding the government aid to the block grant schools and salary as per the government rule.

"The protest will continue till the government doesn't give in to our demands, after August 20, we will demonstrate in front of the quarters of the MLAs", said Prakash Chandra Mohanty, covener of Odisha Vidyalaya Sikshak Mahasangh.

School and Mass Education minister Debi Prasad Mishra said we are discussing the matter in a high level meeting, and then only a final decision would be taken under the finance minister chief minister's directive.

It may be noted here that the teachers have been staging protests since August 10 demanding fulfillment of their dues, which resulted in no-classes in more than 2,000 schools. - See more at: http://www.naxatranews.com/naxatra/story.php?story=8924#sthash.xHTyV0mc.dpuf