Jailed Maoist withdraws fast-unto-death after minister assures support for his PhD

Kolkata: State Correctional Administration minister Ujjal Biswas on Saturday assured Maoist inmate Arnab Dam at Presidency Central Correctional Home of all possible arrangements for his PhD after meeting him personally.

Dam, who has launched a fast unto death protest from Tuesday after he was not allowed to sit for the National Eligibility Test (NET) as he reached the examination venue late, immediately withdrew his fast after being convinced with the minister's assurance.

The minister, who has already ordered a probe on the reason behind Dam's delay in reaching the examination hall, told him to prepare a list of the books that he would need to prepare for his PhD and assured him that he would personally see that everything is made available to him at the earliest.

"We have been taking all possible measures for reformation of the inmates lodged in correctional homes across the state. We always encourage those who want to study seriously. I advised him to go on with his studies and not to take such steps that would harm his health," Biswas said.

Arnab Dam, a dropout from Indian Institute of Engineering (IIT), Kharagpur, was arrested in connection with the Maoist attack at the Silda camp of the Eastern Frontier Rifles (EFR) in 2012 and has been lodged in the prison since then.

He recently obtained court orders for appearing in the State Eligibility Test (SET) and NET, passing which would make him eligible for a lectureship.

He has bagged Bachelor's and Master's degrees in History from the correctional home and had secured first division in both and applied to various universities for enrolling in a PhD programme.

He appeared for SET as the first jailed person to appear for the test that makes one eligible for teaching jobs on December 2. Biswas on Friday inaugurated the Winter Carnival at Presidency Central Correctional Home where a fair is being organised with various handicrafts made by prison inmates.

The biryani prepared by some inmates who run a canteen at the prison sold like hot cake. All the 1,700 inmates were treated with a musical performance by noted singer Raghab Chatterjee.