Enhancing job prospects inside prison
Coimbatore Central Prison is embarking on a plan to keep all convict prisoners engaged and increase job prospects in the prison, sources said.At present undertrials, remand and convict prisoners undergoing simple imprisonment are exempted from work while all those sentenced to rigorous imprisonment work in various job units in the prison. Besides keeping the prisoners occupied, this also helps them earn wages. When rejected by society and not offered jobs after their release because of stigma, job skills acquired while in prison can help them turn into entrepreneurs, officials say.Deputy Inspector-General of Prisons, Coimbatore Range, P. Munivelu and Superintendent of Prisons, Coimbatore Central Prisons, S. Rajendran, mooted a proposal for more job prospects to the Government through Additional Director-General of Police (Prisons) R. Sekar. The Government is said to have given an in-principle clearance to the Rs.114-lakh proposal. The funds will be utilised for modernising the weaving mill in the prison from single breadth to double breadth facility.
The single breadth machine was supplying uniform materials to the Fire and Rescue Services and Prison department personnel. The modernisation and augmentation of the capacity of the weaving mill from single to double breadth would help in stepping up production for supplying uniform materials to the personnel in various uniformed service departments across the State.The Central Prison with a sanctioned accommodation of 2,124 personnel actually has 2,535 prisoners of which convict prisoners undergoing rigorous imprisonment are 1,346. Of the rest, 340 are undertrials, 717 remand prisoners and 55 are under detention.
There is also a proposal for setting up a bakery to make biscuits and cakes. These can be supplied to the canteens in various prisons and in the open market. Modernisation of the bandage cloth unit in prison is also on the cards. The bandage cloth made here can be supplied to Government hospitals. There is also a proposal to modernise the bookbinding unit in the prison, which takes up binding of law books, manufacturing of file pads and tapes for files. There is a growing demand for tapes for file pads in Government offices and modernisation of the unit could cater to the growing demand. The authorities are in the process of setting up two hollow block manufacturing units to meet the demand for construction materials from the Government departments.
