By: Himanshu Modi
The locked-up labour force in the
country made goods worth Rs 200 crore in 2015 through carpentry, weaving,
farming and tailoring. The value of goods produced by jail inmates was Rs 201.8
crore, according to a report by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), which
is a 33% jump from Rs 151.8 crore in 2014.
Tamil Nadu alone contributed nearly
a fourth, or Rs 47.8 crore, worth of merchandise sold with the highest per
inmate earning of Rs 34,000 among the states. Not all inmates choose to work
because it is voluntary. New Delhi ranked second with sales of Rs 31.1 crore
with most products sold under brand TJ's, that started two decades ago. Nearly
four years ago, Tihar Jail held roadshows in retail outlets such as Select
CityWalk and Reliance Retail to market their wares. “The work is voluntary and
has a soothing effect on convicts who can find a purpose in life through such
vocation,” said Neeraj Kumar, former director-general of Tihar Jail. “The challenge,
however, is high overhead cost to set up sales counters and convince consumers
who might have reservations in terms of hygiene against products, especially
food.”
For several years, prison-made
products were mostly sold through in-house outlets, government offices,
Kendriya Bhandar stores or supplied directly to hospitals. But there has been
an increased retail push beyond the walls and iron gates of bleak prisons. The
other high earning states were Kerala (Rs 9.50 crore and Bihar Rs 22.9 crore),
Maharashtra Rs 19.45 crore) in 2015.
A bulk of the profit goes to staff
welfare funds or is ploughed back for sourcing supplies. Nearly 71,100 inmates
were trained under various vocational training programmes in jails across the
country. Authorities hope vocational skills could ease inmates' transition back
into everyday life and reduce relapse into criminal behaviour.
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