There is nobody to mark when their classes begin, but every afternoon sees a queue of students jostling up to begin their studies in a classroom far from the madding crowd of the city — Roshanabad jail. The students are men and women, aged between 20 and 50 years, men clad in white kurta pyjama and women in their colourful suits. There are 18 teachers, including two women. From different backgrounds, they are all convicts, undergoing life-imprisonment for myriad crimes they have committed.
A look at one of them, Koshi from Haldwani, fails to give an impression that she has been undergoing life imprisonment tagged with a murder case. A post-graduate in Commerce, she had completed two semesters of MBA course when she was charged with assisting someone in a murder case. Another Nisha who is an MA in English literature is engaged in teaching the students of NIOS.
With ages, level of literacy and attitude to learning varying from one another, the only common thing among the students is their criminal past. “They are changing now as they are attending classes. Inherent coarseness is now giving way to sobriety. They are no longer feeling forlorn as they are studying together. However, many of them are refusing to work, as they are learning things,” says a beaming jailer SK Sukhija. It was just a week since their exams were over, he added.
Sharing his experience as a yoga teacher, a volunteer from Shanti Kunj Hemant Kumar says, “All prisoners are not intrinsically bad persons. They are just like the normal human beings. The inmost humaneness must be aroused with care and they would be indistinguishable from those living in the normal world. They of course feel lonely being away from their near and dear ones. They must be made to feel that the people care for them. I feel elated when I feel that I am contributing my mite in transforming some individuals who the world dreads and even detests.”
Till now, hundreds of criminals have taken lessons within the prison premises. Some have cleared their basic education upto class 8 and many have reached the level of graduation. A few have taken lessons in law apart from moral education.
A life- time convict Brijesh Singh Aswal, 45, helps the jail staff to maintain database. He has completed Diploma in Computer Applications at Vedanta Foundation. He is now receiving honorarium of Rs 4000 per month by the foundation which he contributes in the teaching of other inmates. “I do not take the money. Where would I spend itIJ I use it in the studies of my fellow mates,” says Aswal.
Under IGNOU, eight courses, including certificate in computing, bachelor preparatory course, certificate in business studies, certificate in human rights and certificate in food nutrition, are being imparted here. In all, 277 inmates were registered till 2015 out of which 107 have cleared. MA examination is scheduled in June this year in which seven students would appear. In the last three years, 44 students have appeared in various courses and 34 have cleared their exams.
Over the past three years from 2013 to 2016, 67 convicts have registered for Diploma in Computer Applications course from Vedanta Foundation. All of them have passed. Besides, 40 out of 228 who registered for the programme have given the basic literacy exam on March 19this year.