PATNA: The face of prisons has indeed changed and changed for good. No more a suffocating black hole with a life of seclusion for prisoners, inducing suicidal tendencies, the prisons of Bihar have seemingly got into a mode that is more than reformatory.
Inmates have not only been honing skills of traditional crafts but have also picked up newer skills in making craft items which are in tune with the tastes in metros. “The productive engagement of these prisoners has indeed brought in encouraging results,” said IG prisons, Bihar, Ramesh Lal, adding “as a positive fallout, the cases of suicide in jails have also drastically reduced.”
From bakery to printing press to pottery making, carpentry, weaving and spinning, the inmates have literally taken to almost all vocations, generating an annual turnover of Rs 11.38 crore in the last financial year. The highest revenue generated by Buxar central jail was to the tune of Rs 9.27 crore.
As many as 367 convicted prisoners of Buxar central jail are engaged in spinning, weaving (both on powerlooms and handlooms), carpentry and other gainful employment. In an international prison reform conference held in New Delhi in 1989, Buxar’s metal swings, garden umbrellas and carpet pieces won the largest number of awards. “The products registered a sale of around Rs 10.7 lakh daily,” deputy director, industries, BCP Singh, who then led the team from Buxar, informed TOI.
A point worth noting is that the garden umbrella and `jhula’ produced at Buxar are not made in any other jail of India, he said, adding “the cotton textile industry, established here in 1844, is the oldest composite unit in the country.”
`Lifer’, a soap produced at Buxar, is rated highly for its quality, said the officer. The rope used for hanging a person convicted with capital punishment all over the country is also produced here.
The prisoners are also skilled at tailoring, carpet weaving, tent and mat making, the highest requisition for which comes from the police department. Furniture of all types for in-house use is also produced at Buxar jail by the inmates. Besides, apart from 8,000 woollen blankets, Buxar jail produces clothes for the convicted and undertrials, towels and bed sheets for in-house use.
Muzaffarpur jail’s `kabuli chappals’, made by female prisoners, and leather goods  shoes, sandals and belts for cops  are also in great demand.
Gaya central jail boasts of its inmates’ skills in pottery making and sculpting terracotta figurines and other art objects.
To keep the prisoners fruitfully engaged, at Bhagalpur central jail, a printing press was started this year. Sculptures made here recently found their way to Kolkata where an exhibition to showcase the talents of prisoners from across the country is scheduled shortly. Around 40,000 utensils are made at this prison and sent to all the 54 jails of the state.
While very soon training in tikuli art and jute products making will begin at the city’s Beur Central jail, bakery that was recently launched here has been doing well. Soap and phenyl making is common to all the jails. A number of prisoners here have already enrolled for painting and computer classes along with other certificate courses.