HYDERABAD: The Telangana government is introducing a new scheme, Vidyadanam Yojana, to provide education and vocational training to prisoners. To begin with, it will be introduced in the Chanchalguda central prison here on July 11 and in other jails across the state in course of time.
Speaking at a press conference here on Tuesday, director-general of prisons and correctional services Vinoy Kumar Singh said that the training would help prisoners get employment after their release. ‘’Our main intention is to give them an opportunity to change and improve their skills during their stay in the prison.”
In the beginning, there will be two courses, one of seven days and another of one month duration. Lectures by prominent personalities from diverse fields and personality development programmes will also be part of the training session. Tata Consultancy Services will provide computer education and the department of higher education will supply the teaching material.
The products made by inmates of the Chanchalguda central jail have been given a new brand name, ‘My Nation’. “So far we have failed to promote our products though they are of very good quality. To overcome that we have introduced a brand name,” said the DG (prisons) said. In six months from now the Chanchalguda jail have a ‘My Nation’ store on its premises. The department of prisons plans to open such stores at all district jails in the state.
“Two teams have been sent to the Yerawada Central Jail in Pune and the Tihar Jail in Delhi to study the manufacturing and marketing methods being adopted there. From next year the jail authorities will stop taking grants from the state government and will achieve financial independence with the help of the revenue generated by selling ‘My Nation’ products. Moreover, prisons will supply goods to government departments,” Singh said.
Talking about other major issues concerning prisons like security of inmates and unauthorised use of mobile phones by prisoners, Singh said that an internal vigilance unit would be formed very soon to keep a closer surveillance on prisoners.
Currently, there are 6,231 prisoners, 5,709 male and 522 female, in jails in Telangana state.
