“With an aim to monetise idle assets owned by the State’s jails, and train inmates in economic activities, the Directorate of Prisons and Correctional Services of Odisha is contemplating a tie-up with public sector undertakings (PSUs) for setting up petrol pumps on lands belonging to jails and located adjacent to highways. Inmates with a track record of good behaviour and conduct will be trained to run these petrol pumps under the stringent supervision of jail authorities,” Director General of Police (DGP, Prisons) Arun Kumar Ray said.
“Discussions are now being made at the government-level with some PSUs for setting up petrol pumps to be run by convicts in about 15 different locations across the State in the first phase. Evaluating their performance, the scheme will be expanded at other locations of the State,” Mr. Ray said, adding that the operational plan would have robust security in place, and the petrol pumps would be strictly supervised by jail authorities with modern video surveillance devices.
A list of jails in the State have been identified for the project, Mr. Ray said, including the Circle Jails of Sambalpur, Koraput, and Angul; district jails at Bolangir, Jagatsinghpur, Dhenkanal, Malkangiri, and Rourkela Special Jail; and the sub-jails of Nabarangpur, Hindol, Madanpur-Rampur, Sonepur, the Biju Patnaik Open Air Ashram at Jamujhari in Khurda, and the Odisha Jail Training School at Berhampur.
The DGP of Prisons further said that inmates engaged in running jail kitchens would be trained to improve the overall quality of food for prisoners. “Introduction of modern cooking systems for all bigger jails with capacity of 200 and more inmates will ensure efficient hygiene with balanced and nutritious cooking,” Mr. Ray said.
Published – December 29, 2024 07:58 pm IST