THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In an effort to promote sports activities for prisoners, Indian Oil in association with Poojapura central prison in the capital have started a project called 'Parivarthan'. The Parivathan is a nationwide project which is being implemented at selected jails in the country.
Indian Oil chairman Srikanth Madhav Vaidya inaugurated the project at Poojapura Central Jail on Sunday in which DGP(Prisons) Shaik Darvesh Saheb, Indian Oil chief general manager VC Asokan attended. As part of the project, jail inmates will be trained in badminton, volleyball, chess, tennis and caroms to uplift their physical and mental well-being.
In addition to entertainment, the purpose of 'Parivarthan' is to provide opportunities for them in local competitions. A total of 129 prisoners have been selected for the four-week training. Internationally acclaimed athletes who are part of Indian Oil will lead the training programme.
Badminton players Abhin Shyam (Arjuna Award winner) and Trupti Murugunde (Commonwealth medal winner, Dhyan Chand Award winner) SK Arun Vishnu (national champion) Women's Grandmaster Padmini Routh (Chess) Rushmi Chakraborty (national champion) Ramesh Babu, S Parimala Devi and Srinivas are among the coaches.
Indian Oil chairman Srikanth Madhav Vaidya said that Indian Oil is involved in a number of social welfare programmes. Another programme has been launched to provide employment to those who are released after imprisonment, mainly as customer attendants at petrol pumps, he said.DGP Sheikh Darwish Saheb thanked Indian Oil for the initiative.
He said the state Prisons Department is interested in participating in Indian Oil’s green energy ventures in future. The first phase of the programme is launched at Poojapura Central Jail, Chanchal Good Central Jail (Hyderabad), Puzhal Central Jail (Chennai), Special Jail (Bhubaneswar) and Circle Jail (Cuttack).
Currently, 30 prisoners who have been released are working at 30 Indian oil pumps in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.