45 prison officers pass out from Academy in Vellore

They were offered indoor, outdoor training for three months

Chief guest, M. Chandrasekhar, Director, APCA, presenting a medal and a certificate to an officer during the convocation of the 38th batch of in-service course for prison officers at the Academy of Prisons and Correctional Administration (APCA) in Vellore on Wednesday. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

After a rigorous training of three months, 45 officers, mainly jailors and deputy jailors, passed out of the 38th batch of prison officers from the Academy of Prison and Correctional Administration (APCA) at Thorapadi in Vellore, on Wednesday.

The batch comprises 45 trainee officers. Seven of them are women. The APCA has developed an exclusive training manual for in-service courses, and the training was conducted based on the manual.

Indoor training for the officers were in prison and correctional administration, criminology and victimology, alternatives to imprisonment, sociology and social work, psychology, criminal laws and special acts, human rights and good prison management.

They had casework practice at the Central Prison in Vellore, where they studied a person in an environment, and presented the same in the class. They also submitted assignments and presentations for all subjects, which were evaluated and graded.

The outdoor training, included drills with arms, crowd control drills, handling weapons, unarmed combat, yoga and meditation.

Besides these, they were trained in handling weapons such as 9 mm pistol, 7.62 mm SLR and 9 mm carbine, and in swimming, providing first aid, driving, building maintenance and electrical safety, counselling skills and social defence. Classes were conducted through audio visuals, group discussions and presentations.

The batch visited jails in the southern States to learn the best practices in prisons and correctional administration. The officers were also given specialised training on calculation of remission, lifesaving skills such as first aid, health management, electrical safety, e-prisons and finance.

At the end of the training, officers were tested through written exams and viva voce, conducted by Somasekar, DIG Prisons (South Range-Karnataka).

During the training, strict COVID-19 protocols were enforced among the trainee officers and staff. All officers were vaccinated. On the occasion, M. Chandrasekhar, Director, APCA, and Professor Beulah Emmanuel, course coordinator, APCA were present.