PUNJAB: The prisons department in Punjab is recasting the treatment of citizens found in conflict with the law in an attempt to keep prisoners away from the environment of crime and rehabilitate them. The jails have radio stations, on-order manufacturing units for furniture, LED bulb hubs, bakery products, tents and biodegradable carrybags. The next is petrol stations operating out of jails.
There are around 26,000 inmates in 26 prisons in the state, including ten central jails. The routine life of prisoners has become much busier. As many as 11 petrol stations are coming up at Patiala, Ludhiana, Nabha, Amritsar, Hoshiarpur, Ferozepur and Faridkot on the land owned by the prisons department. Jail inmates — provided their conduct is good — and jail staff will run these stations. The jail department and the Indian Oil Corporation have signed an MoU wherein the department will provide land to the IOC to run these stations.
Four jails in Ludhiana, Ferozepur, Kapurthala and Patiala have their own radio channel, ‘Radio Ujala Punjab’. Two more jails in Faridkot and Hoshiarpur will have such a facility. These radio stations function every day for three hours, one hour each in the morning, afternoon and evening, and radio jockeys are the jail inmates. In Kapurthala jail, the RJ is a woman inmate.
Additional Director General of Police (Prisons), Praveen Kumar Sinha, said the correctional intervention will reduce recidivism. Through the in-prison positive environment along with skilling and education, prisoners will keep off crime and criminal activities. Sinha said the prime objective is to enable the convicted and under-trials facing social alienation to rehabilitate themselves seamlessly in the society. “By setting up manufacturing units of a variety of items, we hope a conducive atmosphere will prevail for the inmates to start a new life.”
The under-trial radio jockeys are selected by professional RJs. The inmates go through a training of two days organised by India Vision Foundation with whose collaboration these radio stations are functioning. Pre-recorded motivational lectures and stories, on-demand songs besides performances by prisoners and comedy shows are broadcast. The entertainment capsules of 35 minutes are played in the jail premises.He said reformation through motivation and meditation is set to change the lives of many who have landed in prisons.
The manufacturing units keep the inmates employed as well. For instance, Bathinda has a furniture unit set up in the PPP mode where both government and private individuals can place orders. In Hoshiarpur and Nabha prisons, biodegradable carry bags and sanitary napkin units sell their products to private firms. The state police recently placed an order with the jail department for 1,200 tents worth Rs 4.75 crore. The inmates will be manufacturing these tents in the factories set up in nine central jails.
IG, Prisons, Roop Kumar Arora says the Punjab Jail Development Board is set up on the pattern of Telangana. Punjab is now the second state to set up such a board for bringing about self-sufficiency in jails and strengthening their infrastructure. The funds generated from the sale of products under brand ‘Ujala’ are being utilised for the welfare of prisoners and the development of jails.
A money-spinner
The products manufactured in Punjab jails have an annual turnover of over`1.25 crore, according to IG Prisons. The funds generated from the sales are being used for the welfare of prisoners.