CHANDIGARH: The Punjab government has decided that jail inmates will run the petrol pumps in the
state which will be run on land provided by the jail department. The Punjab Jail Department and the Indian Oil Corporation on Monday signed a MoU in this regard. The department will provide land to the IOC which in turn will set up a petrol pump and run it.
Prisoners who are eligible to work in the open jail and with a good conduct record will be deployed at these pumps.
The first such pump will open at Central Jail, Patiala. Later, the Jail department will identify more prisons to open petrol pumps. The Punjab Jail Department aims to generate revenue with this venture.
Punjab Jails Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa signed the MoU and also presided over the passing out parade of 246 jail workers, including 51 women. He announced Rs 5 lakh from his discretionary fund for the jail training school.
Another MoU between the jails department and the Rajiv Gandhi National Law University was signed to start various courses like prison management and law.
A few days ago, IOC signed an MoU with the state government to set up fifteen pumps on the land provided by rural cooperative societies, Sugarfed, Markfed and Milkfed. These outlets will provide fuel to farmers on credit basis for which they will pay after harvesting their crops. The capital investment will be done by IOC and land will be provided by the state.
The cooperative sugar mills would also provide diesel and petrol on credit to sugarcane growers in the sugar mills itself and the price would be adjusted in the pricing of sugarcane.