Under rehab plan, 17 Nahan jail inmates get jobs

Tribune News Service
Shimla, January 9

In its bid to rehabilitate jail inmates, the State Prison Department has given jobs to 17 of its inmates from the Model and Central Prison at Nahan in a factory in Kala Amb.

The Model and Central Prison at Nahan in Sirmaur district has tied up with Guru Kripa Enterprises, Kala Amb, for employment to prisoners as factory workers. Prior to this, five inmates from Model Central Jail at Kanda in Shimla had been employed at a factory in Shoghi near here.

Several reforms undertaken by the Prisons Department have helped prisoners acquire skills which will facilitate their rehabilitation after they complete their sentence.

Various bakery items, furniture, blankets, shawls, mufflers and many other quality products are made by prisoners. Not only are the families of the inmates getting monthly financial assistance, the Prisons Department earns almost Rs 3.50 crore from the sale of these products.

“Guru Kripa Enterprises has employed 17 inmates of the open category from the Nahan Central Jail in their factory where shoes are manufactured and exported,” said Somesh Goyal, Director General Police (Prisons and Correctional Services, Himachal Pradesh). He added this was yet another step forward by the department in its engagement with civil society and industry in their bid to rehabilitate inmates.

Goyal revealed that it was after the initial successful experiment in Shoghi that the Superintendent of Jail, Nahan, was asked to explore the possibility of employment to inmates in the industries located in Kala Amb.

A meeting was also held with the captains of the industry which has resulted in this positive development. The CEO of Guru Kripa Enterprises Devinder Singh and Jai Gopal Lodta were open to the idea of engaging the inmates in their unit.

It was part of this endeavour which made Himachal Pradesh Prisons, the first in the country, to rehabilitate three women inmates by securing jobs for them outside the prisons in private organisations recently.

“Rehabilitation and reintegration of prisoners back in society is the ultimate objective. This can only be achieved with the active participation of the civil society and the industry,” said Goyal, who has been instrumental in taking several steps at rehabilitating inmates, lodged in various jails.

The inmates are running mobile canteens in Shimla, Nahan and Dharamsala. Based on their conduct, the inmates are allowed to go and work and even run a book café on the Ridge in Shimla, which has become very popular with locals as well as tourists.

An example 

• The Nahan jail has tied up with Guru Kripa Enterprises, Kala Amb, for employment to prisoners 
• Five from Kanda jail in Shimla have been employed at a factory
• Several reforms have helped prisoners acquire skills which will facilitate their rehabilitation