In a first of its kind initiative aimed at reforming the Jail inmates, the Punjab Prisons Development Board (PPDB) on Friday signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Indian Oil (IOCL) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) for opening 12 Retail Outlets (ROs) to be manned by Jail inmates across the state.
Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa had approved the execution of MoUs with IOCL and BPCL and subsequently the Lease Deeds with Oil Marketing Companies concerned. Out of these 12 Retail Outlets, 11 will be opened by Indian Oil and one by BPCL.
The MOU was executed by Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) cum Member Secretary Punjab Prisons Development Board, Praveen Kumar Sinha on behalf of Board while Amarendra Kumar executed it on behalf of Indian Oil Corporation. The MoU was signed in the presence of Principal Secretary (Jails) DK Tiwari, Executive Director, Indian Oil, Sujoy Chaudhary, IG (Jails) and others.
Describing it as Red letter day, ADGP said that it was part of reformatory policies being launched by the Punjab government to ensure that jail inmates who want to return to mainstream are given adequate opportunities. He said that these Retail Outlets will be operated by Prisons Development Board and will be managed by the prisons’ staff as well as inmates. Sinha said that the operationalising of Retail Outlets will generate revenue for the Board besides providing adequate avenues to prisoners for skill development, reformation and rehabilitation.
“This project is a win-win situation for the prisons department and jail inmates as well as Oil Marketing Companies as all of them will be benefited from it”, he added.