BHUBANESWAR: Odisha’s Biju Patnaik State Police Academy (BPSPA) has won the Union Home Minister’s Trophy for the best police training institution at the national level in gazetted officers category for the year 2020-2021.
The State academy will receive a reward of Rs 20 lakh in the form of grant-in-aid from the Centre for being accorded with this recognition.
BPSPA has been continuously winning the Union Minister’s zonal level trophy in different categories in the eastern zonal level since 2015. However, this is for the first time that the academy has won the award of best police training institution of the country.
“Over the last few years, a lot of qualitative improvement has been brought in the police training by the State Academy and this has been recognised by the Centre,” said a senior officer of BPSPA.
The academy, which was established in 2005, provides long duration basic training courses to the directly recruited Odisha Police Service officers (DSPs), sub-inspectors, sergeants and deputy subedars after they join Odisha Police.
Since its inception, BPSPA has trained 65 DSPs in six batches and more than 3,200 sub-inspectors, sergeants and deputy subedars in 24 batches.
The academy also provides training to assistant sub-inspectors of Odisha Police, and officers of Excise, Prisons, Transport and Forest Departments.
The Ministry of Home Affairs had earlier instituted the award of ‘Union Home Minister’s Medal for Excellence in Police Training’, and award of ‘Union Home Minister’s Trophy to the best Training Institutions’. The objective is to recognise the importance of training and the trainers in police organisations and make training a respectable assignment. The inaugural year’s medals and trophies under this scheme were awarded on January 26, 2016.