Brahmapur. Prominent Maoist leader Sabyasachi Panda, who is serving a life sentence in a jail in Odisha’s Brahmapur region, has expressed his desire to pursue a master’s degree in public administration through Odisha Pradesh Open University (OSOU) this year. A jail official gave this information on Wednesday.
Panda, who graduated from Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) two years ago, is one of the six prisoners who have submitted documents to take admission in the two-year MA (Public Administration) correspondence course at OSOU. Of the six, four including 55-year-old Panda are convicts and two are undertrial prisoners.
“We have submitted the documents of six prisoners, including Panda, who are interested in taking admission in the two-year MA (Public Administration) through correspondence,” said DN Barik, senior superintendent of Brahmapur circular jail. Jail teacher Sanatan Khillar said, “After their admission, study material will be provided and the prisoners will prepare on their own and take the exam.” Panda was arrested in Brahmapur on July 18, 2014 and has been in jail since then. He is an accused in more than 130 Maoist-related cases in different districts. A local court has sentenced him to life imprisonment for anti-national activities.