60 prisoners to appear in Odisha Matric Exam this year

Bhubaneswar: As many as 60 prisoners lodged at various jails across the state will appear in the annual Matric Exam, conducted by Board of Secondary Education (BSE), Odisha, this year.

The prisoners are allowed to attend the Matric examination under the prison reform programmes in Odisha. They will appear in the annual board examination at Jharpada Special Jail in Bhubaneswar.

The prisoners from different jails in the state visit Jharpada Jail for the examination every year. This year, the convicts and undertrial prisoners lodged at jails in Khordha, Balangir, Angul, Nayagarh, Kujang, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur and Puri in various criminal cases will appear in the examination here, said Jharpada Special Jail’s Jailor Santoshini Dash.

The examinees will be brought to Bhubaneswar amid tight security for the examination, she added.

In 2022, total 147 prisoners had appeared in the Matric Examination under the prison reform programme, of which 10 had successfully cleared. Total 63 prisoners had attended the examination in 2021, out of which 13 passed the examination.

The annual Matric Examination-2023 is scheduled to start from March 10.