BENGALURU: This Rajyotsava, a literacy plan will be put into action for prisoners and undertrials who don’t know how to read and write Kannada. “We want prisoners who used thumb impression when they walked into jail, to sign the ledger while leaving,” Home Minister Araga Jnanendra said.
Karnataka’s 50 jails have over 16,000 inmates, and the Department of Prisons estimates that around 6,000 don’t know how to read and write Kannada. Officials are doing a survey to get the exact number. Jnanendra said the Home department is involving literate inmates to teach prisoners who are illiterate.
“We will pay them for teaching,’’ he said. This will be done under the guidance of the Director-General and other officials, who have framed the curriculum. “We are also involving adult education committee members. It will be a novel programme to make prisoners literate, and we want to instil interest in learning, which will make them better people,” he added.
Retired IPS officer ST Ramesh, former police chief who had headed the Prisons department, told TNIE that a similar programme had been launched to make prisoners literate. “Only their freedom is restricted, otherwise they are treated like ordinary people. They can also learn dance, music or any other subject, their minds will become healthy,’’ he said. Besides this, Kannada will also be incorporated into the march past, and commands will be given in the local language.