BENGALURU: The Prisons Department is planning to increase the daily wages of prisoners from `90 to `120 in order to motivate them to be more productive.
Statistics released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) recently indicate that Karnataka is among the states offering high wages to prisoners. At present, prisoners are paid between `70 and `90 depending on their skill.
The wage increase will be implemented from the next financial year. The increase has been planned to motivate prisoners to produce more in jail, said K B Gagandeep, Additional General of Police, Prisons. According to NCRB statistics of the last five years, the gross earnings from the sale of products produced in jail has increased from `70 lakh in 2009 to `259.3 lakh in 2013. The figures for the other years are: `197.8 lakh in 2012, `116 lakh in 2011 and `94 lakh in 2010.
Jail authorities said the income has risen due to an increase in production and better marketing of products. They have also entered new areas now, said Gagandeep.
He said, “We have increased the production of baking products as it helps generate funds easily. Moreover, we have started growing vegetables in the open jail. These vegetables are supplied to various places, and we have been able to generate as much as `10,000 every day from Bangalore.”
Gagandeep said they are also receiving help from several NGOs in training prisoners, and some of these organisations also offer wages which help motivate the prisoners.