Bihar no. 1 in terms of money earned through jail inmates

PATNA: Having hogged the limelight for all wrong reasons in the past, jails in Bihar, for a change, are now making the state proud at least on one
front. This pertains to money earned by sale of products produced inside Bihar jails by the inmates.

Quoting figures provided by the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D), an official of home (prisons) department said that Bihar stood first in 2008-09 in India in terms of money earned by sale of products made by jail inmates.

While Bihar jails earned Rs 10.76 crore, jails of Maharshtra and Uttar Pradesh stood second and third with corresponding figures of income of jails of these two states being Rs 10.36 crore and Rs 10.20 crore respectively.

"A major share of this income has come from the products of Buxar Central Jail as the Swiss cottage and tarpaulin, manufactured by inmates there, were supplied in good number during Vikas Yatra undertaken by CM Nitish Kumar," said a senior home (prison) department official and added that the supply was made in accordance with the Bihar Finance Rule, a clause of which stipulates that all tents for official requirement should be purchased from Buxar Central Jail.

Income generated by this jail is over Rs 9 crore which constitutes about 90 per cent of the total income of jails in Bihar. Taking a lesson from the good performance of Buxar jail, the bosses in home (prison) department have taken steps to enhance the income of other major jails of Bihar, too.

Steps have been taken to start work for producing tents and blankets using the services of inmates of Central jails in Muzaffarpur. This will be in addition to the leather items already being produced by the inmates of this jail.

A printing press has been installed in Bhagalpur Central Jail and its commercial use would start after the trial run of the press which would be conducted very soon.

A bakery has been set up in Beur Central Jail, Patna, and the product of this bakery would also be sold in the market.

"These are a few steps we have taken to sustain the income level of jails and if things move as planned, there is no doubt that Bihar jails would continue to be number one in the country in terms of money earned by sale of products produced by jail inmates," said the official.