5 petrol bunks to be manned by prisoners inaugurated in TN

: Five fuel retail outlets that would be operated by prison inmates at various locations were inaugurated by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami throught video-conferencing here Friday.

Set up at a cost of Rs 10 crore by IndianOil Corporation, the outlets were located in Puzhal, Vellore, Palayamkottai, Pudukottai and Coimbatore.

The prisons department and the IndianOil Corporation Ltd would be setting up fuel retail outlets at six more places across the state, a press release said here.

IndianOil would be investing an additional Rs 10 crore for the six bunks - at Puzhal (on Ambattur Road), Salem, Tiruchirappalli (Airport Road), Tiruchirappalli (Gandhi market), Madurai and Coimbatore (Bharathiar Road).

The outlets would have state-of-the-art facilities including adequate storage for petrol, diesel, space for storing lubricants and electronic dispensing units among others, the release said.

Automation facilities would also be set up in the outlets besides provision for Prison Bazaar to sell goods made by the prisoners, it said.

With this initiative, IndianOil gives an opportunity to prison inmates to become skilled workers. They can also learn aspects of safety in handling inflammable products, learn modern technology and would get an incentive of Rs 100 per day for working as customer attendants, it said.

The oil marketing company was keen on replicating this model in other states with cooperation from respective state governments and prison authorities, the release added.