Handmade products prepared by the inmates of Birsa Munda Central Jail are yet to find a market. They are not getting adequate response even from government departments.
Birsa Jail boasts of several vocational programmes where inmates are taught how to sew clothes, weave blankets or become mechanics and electricians to equip them with skills and ensure proper rehabilitation after sentences are served.
“Most of the products like soaps, blankets, phenyl and clothes are consumed in the jail itself as we are yet to find a market for them. Although repeated requests were sent to almost all departments of the state government, but barring a few, they have a turned a blind eye to our request,” said Jail Superintendent of Birsa Munda Central Jail Ashok Chaudhary.
Several items like clothes, blankets, shawls, soaps, bed sheets, fly leafs, registers etc. are produced by the jail inmates as a part of their vocational training programme so that they could be trained to lead a dignified life outside the jail.
Chaudhary, however, asserted that Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) and Jharkhand High Court (JHC) have so far been the two major buyers of their products which has been a great support for them in running the project inside the jail.
“RIMS have been a regular purchaser of white bed sheets and red blankets used by the patients while JHC has also placed orders for leaflets and registers used by them,” said Chaudhary. In addition to that, the judicial officers visiting the jail quite frequently, have also shown a keen interest in buying the products, he added.
Officials of Jharkhand High Court have also promised more orders of fly leaf and white phenyl prepared by the jail inmates.
High quality products, including four types of blankets (general black blankets, red blankets for hospitals along with black and colourful khadi blankets) along with cots wool, woolen shawl for ladies and gamcha (thin towels) are also produced inside Birsa Jail.
Silk is also produced inside the jail but due to very low consumption, it is hard to carry forward the trade after the expert hands are released from the jail leaving a gap behind them.
“As we do not get ample orders, it becomes difficult to carry forward the expertise to the new inmates as once the experts are released, there is no one to train the newcomers,” Chaudhary said.
“If there had been a frequent consumption of our products, it would have given a moral boost up to the jail inmates,” he added.
In the meantime, jail authorities are chalking out a strategy to find a market for its products and have decided to knock each of the government departments again requesting them to buy their products of their use.
An outlet has also been opened at the main gate of Birsa Jail where the products have been kept on display so that any visitor can easily purchase a product of his choice.
Production inside the jail is done at ‘no profit, no loss’ basis in order to train the jail inmates so that they could also lead a dignified life by earning a living out of the expertise they attain here after being released from the jail.
Price of a product is fixed on the basis of the daily wages paid to each of the inmates and the expenditure in purchasing the raw materials used for it.