From now on the wages of Tihar Jail convicts would be transferred to their Jan Dhan Yojana bank accounts. Also, products made by them would soon be displayed on an e-commerce platform to be sold, according to jail officials. Tihar Jail spokesperson and DIG (Prisons) Mukesh Prasad told The Pioneer that Jan Dhan Yojana accounts have been opened for all the convicts in the jail, the largest prison in Asia.
“There are over 3,500 convicts in Tihar and all of them now have their Jan Dhan Yojana accounts. Now we are inviting the under-trials as well to open their accounts. But as the under-trials don’t stay here for too long, we can only request them,” he said. Once the accounts are opened, the wages of all the inmates would be transferred directly to their accounts.
“Jan Dhan Yojana accounts have many benefits like accidental insurance, overdraft facility and zero-balance accounts. It’s better for the inmates to have Jan Dhan accounts. They can avail the facilities even after going out of the jail,” added Prasad. Earlier, PPF accounts were used for disbursement of salaries of the inmates. Besides, an e-commerce site is also on the anvil. “Since we are a Government department, we have to float an open tender and invite all the players in the market. But yes, we are planning to launch a
platform soon to sell the paintings, woodwork and others created by the inmates. It should be operational in a few months.” Another senior official told The Pioneer that the aim behind these schemes is to provide livelihood to the inmates so that they have an alternate life when they go out of the prison.
“Reform can happen only if we give them an alternate life so that they don’t take to crime after they go out. In the prison we try to keep them busy, for which we are planning to expand our carpentry workshops and quilt-making workshops. The intention is to give them an alternate way to earn their living inside the prison, and support them even after they go out of the prison,” said the official. The money earned by selling the works through the online platform would be transferred directly to the Jan Dhan Yojana accounts of the inmates through a payment gateway, claimed the official.