Steps to revive prison bazaars being taken

Steps are being taken to revive 'Prison Bazaars' in all the nine jails in Tamil Nadu, ADGP (Prisons) C Sailendra Babu said today.
Though for various reasons, the Bazaar in Jails, including in the Central Jail in Coimabtore, were closed, plans are afoot to revive these for the benefit of inmates and the public, he told reporters.
The official, who was here to review the functioning of the prisons and also as part of tree planting campaign, said the textile mills functioning in the prison here, were modernised and the inmates are supplying clothes for uniformed services like police and Fire and Rescue departments.

With 6,000 of about 15,000 inmates in the prisons in the state pursuing education in various disciplines, the prisons, considered to be reformatory establishments, would turn out as classrooms in the near future, he said.
Inmates are pursuing UG, PG and Ph.D programme under Open and Distance Learning, he said.
An Industrial Training Institute was opened in Tiruchirapalli jail, where civil, mechanical, instrumentation and tailoring courses are being offered, which will help prisoners eke out their livelihood after they come out of jail.
Started in 1872, the central prison here is home to 1,720 prisoners with separate enclosure for women.

On reported use of cell phones in the prisons, the official said 283 cellphones were seized from inmates during last year and about 187 till now. The department has procured 12 jammers to install in various prisons, including two here, Sailendra Babu said.