VISAKHAPTANAM: For Visakhapatnam Central Jail, the approach is straightforward, ‘teach a trade, test for quality, and pay for work. Whether in a field, a workshop or a bindery, each shift is intended to add up to something an inmate can carry forward, a habit of work, and a skill that can earn.’ From farming to steel furniture, bookbinding and bakery, Visakhapatnam Central Jail is turning custody time into skills that can sustain life after release.
Between 7 and 13 acres inside the jail are under cultivation at any time, with 22 convicts rotating crops by season. Tomatoes, brinjal, okra, cucumber and a range of leafy vegetables are grown regularly, and dragon fruit is on trial. A nursery has also been proposed to raise saplings for supply outside wherever there is demand.
Industrial work runs alongside farming. The steel-fabrication unit, which has, for the past two years, been making school benches for Larsen & Toubro’s CSR programme, led the jail’s production units in 2024–25, posting Rs 1.35 crore in income and Rs 17 lakh in profit. The bookbinding section supplies registers to about 60% of prisons and several other departments across AP, giving inmates steady practice in a trade that finds buyers year-round.
Other units include weaving and dyeing, tailoring, dry cleaning, phenyl production, bakery, printing, agriculture and dairy. Five of these recorded profits last year. Weaving and dyeing produced goods worth Rs 15 lakh (Rs 1.6 lakh profit), the bakery turned out Rs 15.3 lakh in products (Rs 2 lakh profit), agriculture added Rs 5.8 lakh in produce (Rs 76,000 profit), and the dairy logged Rs 44 lakh in output (Rs 3.2 lakh profit). Officials describe these numbers as indicators that revenue generation and rehabilitation can move together.
Opportunities are matched to inmates after assessing interest and conduct. Those who show consistent, positive behaviour are placed in roles that carry more responsibility, such as agriculture. Many nearing release are engaged in farm work while some have received sentence remissions on account of good conduct. “Our role is to start a pathway to responsible, lawful livelihoods. We can initiate it inside; once someone steps out, our control is limited. So we focus on strong beginnings,” said Superintendent M Mahesh Babu.
A new sanitary-napkin manufacturing unit in the women’s block is undergoing extensive quality trials. Run with the support of a voluntary organisation and guided by two experienced trainers, the unit aims to supply prisons across the state. It uses chemicals-free raw materials, follows four rounds of quality testing and offers financial incentives to participants, combining hygiene, dignity and skill-building.
“The jail’s ten production units are designed to do more than meet internal needs. They create routines, teach teamwork and build marketable skills. Steel furniture, registers, food products and farm produce have steady buyers; the proposed nursery could add another revenue stream,” Mahesh Babu noted.
The Superintendent added that prisoners are engaged in trades based on their skills and behaviour, with efforts to provide financial aid to motivate them further.