The green face of UP prisons!

Small centres of agriculture; about 795 acres of land had been cultivated across various prisons in UP during 2011-12

The mandated task of incarcerating and reforming inmates notwithstanding, the prisons in Uttar Pradesh have also been the centres of agricultural and horticultural production as well, albeit on a much smaller scale.

Luckily, the inmates get the ‘liberty’ of eating the food items grown by them in the cultivable land of these prisons. The inmates cultivate this land and grow rabi, kharif and zaid crops comprising food grains, oil seeds and horticultural crops.

During 2011-12, about 795 acres of land had been cultivated across the various prisons in UP, producing 63,000 quintals of paddy, wheat, potato, vegetables, cattle feed, mustard etc. The total economic value of the agricultural and horticultural produce was about Rs 10.40 crore.

The agricultural produce is meant for the internal consumption of the respective prison. Any surplus is transported for the consumption at the nearest prison. In the event of any agricultural produce breaching its shelf life, the same is disposed of as per the Jail Manual.

There are 65 prisons in UP, including 5 central jails at Agra, Bareilly, Varanasi, Naini (Allahabad) and Fatehgarh. There are 54 district jails, 3 sub jails and 3 specialised prisons at Lucknow and Bareilly. The maximum number of prisons are located in Lucknow and Gorakhpur regions at 14 each.

The jails in UP are overcrowded and hold almost 70% more prisoners vis-à-vis their capacity. Under-trails are almost double the number of convicts. For example, in 2012, the total count of inmates, including convicts and under-trials in these jails in UP, stood at 80,358 (including 53,373 under-trails) against their total capacity of around 47,518.

Interestingly, the total acreage of the prisons had in fact dwindled from 919 and 950 acres during 2009-10 and 2010-11 respectively. As per official figures, potato and vegetables have been clocking the largest acreage amongst the various crops

For agriculture and irrigation, these prisons currently employ 17 tractors, 108 tube wells and 20 pumping sets.

Meanwhile, various industries also function at select prisons, mainly central, producing different items viz. soaps, leather and textile goods, furniture, paint, kitchen ware, power loom, embroidery etc. The dress worn by prison inmates is also manufactured by them.

During 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12, the total value of such production at these prisons stood at Rs 336 crore, Rs 462 crore and Rs 482 crore respectively.

The prison authorities routinely train inmates in various skills and crafts depending upon their interest and aptitude. These products are consumed in prisons and also supplied to various government and non-government departments and agencies.

The Lucknow jail depot even displays and sells these products to public.