Clothes made in jail a hit, Prisons Dept eyes Rs 1cr turnover
Bhanu P Lohumi
The Prisons Department is eying a turnover of Rs 1 crore from the clothing stitched by the inmates, as it is in great demand and becoming quite popular. Apart from producing fashionable kurta pyjamas, shawls, shirts, Himachali caps, sadri, stoles and khadi products, the Prisons Department has recently stitched 200 uniforms for four hotels namely Chalet’s Naldehra, Chateau Garli, Cedar Grand and Pineview.
The projects in pipeline include making uniforms for the staff of Naldehra Golf Course, coats for nursing college nurses, besides another order of 120 dresses for Minchy’s. The Prisons Department is also eager to manufacture uniforms for the police personnel and homeguards.
“Customers are given options to select the fabric of their choice and the clothes designed by fashion designer Bhupin Paul are stitched by the inmates in the readymade garment units at Kanda and Nahan jails,” said Somesh Goyal, Director General, Prisons and Correctional Services.
“A large number of entrepreneurs have evinced interest as the clothes are of good quality and the cost of stitching is 40-50 per cent less than the prevailing market rates as our motto is rehabilitation of inmates and not profit,” he said, adding that the designing of clothes is free of charge.
As many as 45 inmates are engaged in the small prison industry (30 in Kanda and 15 in Nahan) and to bring uniformity in the dress of prisons, we have decided to manufacture the dresses of prison inmates in prisons itself, he said.
The stitching is done by professionals on machines like Juki and Singer. Two years ago, the department started a sewing centre with the help of Rotary Club, Shimla, in Kanda Jail and today, the inmates are well-trained and producing bulk clothing.
In 2018-19, the turnover of products manufactured by the Prisons Department, which included clothing, bakery, handlooms, arts and crafts, textile, wooden furniture and other products was Rs 3.6 crore and Rs 1.2 crore were paid as wages.
The target for the current year (2019-20) has been fixed at Rs 5 crore, of which 20 per cent would be earned through readymade garments. The total sale for April and May this year was Rs 42 lakh and Rs 46 lakh, respectively.
As many as eight “Pehal outlets” have been opened by the department to sell goods manufactured and produced in jails. Four stores have come up in Shimla, besides one each in Nahan, Dharamsala, Mandi and Hamirpur. Two more outlets are coming up in Chamba and Una.
The department has established Himkara Unnayan Samiti (progressive society) and the earnings from the products manufactured in prisons are invested for the welfare of prisoners. Lately, the funds have been used in activities such as establishment of yoga halls, strengthening of Radio Kara Junction in jails and purchasing gym equipment without any burden on the state government.
Customers are given options to select the fabric of their choice and the clothes designed by fashion designer Bhupin Paul are stitched by the inmates in the readymade garment units at Kanda and Nahan jails. A large number of entrepreneurs have evinced interest as the clothes are of good quality and the cost of stitching is 40-50 per cent less than the prevailing market rates as our motto is rehabilitation of inmates and not profit. — Somesh Goyal, Director General, Prisons and Correctional Services
