Stepping forward to help in the fight against coronavirus from behind the high walls of their jails, hundreds of Rajasthan's prisoners are busy cooking food, stitching masks, packing protection kits and manufacturing thousands of litres of sanitiser each day.
About 400 inmates of various prisons in the desert state cook for 1,500 to 2,000 people, many of them migrant workers on their way home but stuck because of the lockdown or homeless people housed in shelter homes. They also help meet the demand for sanitiser, masks and packed dry rations from government departments NGOs and hospitals.
The sanitiser and the masks are marketed under the brand name Aashayein (hope).
Officials of the state's prison department said inmates of about 50 central and district jails in the state make a simple meal of dal, roti and a vegetable for those left without any jobs and money. Besides, masks are prepared in 10 jails and sanitiser manufactured in the Jaipur Open Jail.
"The prisoners are aware of what is happening around the country and have extended their wholehearted support,
Director General of Prisons N R K Reddy told PTI.
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The prisoners lodged in various jails were quick to volunteer for whatever they could do to help society in its fight against the disease, the 1986 batch IPS officer added.
"Their support encouraged us and we implemented a plan of manufacturing masks and sanitiser. Their enthusiasm and participation was overwhelming," he said.
The corona project' started about two weeks ago, shortly after the 21-day lockdown was announced on March 24, triggering an exodus of migrant workers from cities to villages.
"Everyday, food is prepared for nearly 1,500 to 2,000 such people by prisoners of various jails and the same gets distributed at various camps set up by the state government," explained Deputy Inspector General of Prisons Vikas Kumar.
The 2004 batch IPS officer said the prisoners have also been busy manufacturing masks and sanitiser as well as assembling home protection kits and packing dry rations.
The numbers are impressive, he said.
"In the last 15 days, the prisoners have produced nearly 1.25 lakh masks. Of these, nearly 50,000 have been used by the jail staff and inmates and the remaining have been supplied to various departments of police, government offices, hospitals and NGOs, Kumar told PTI
The masks are also available over the counter in various central jails.
The sanitiser is made in the open jail at Jaipur in collaboration with a Hyderabad-based firm," he added.
About 3,000 to 4,000 litres per day of sanitiser has been prepared so far in the last fortnight. "Some of it is used for internal consumption while the rest is marketed under Aashayein, which is an enterprise of Rajasthan prisons."
Quality control, an essential part, is being done at the prison level as well as by the government department which procures it.
"Around 400 prisoners per day are involved in the task that has been undertaken by the Rajasthan jail department," Kumar said.
The other supplies include home protection kits comprising masks, sanitiser, medicated soaps and phenyl.
"We have hired an e-rickshaw which even delivers it at home in case the order is a big one," Kumar said.
The prison inmates have also been involved in packing dry rations procured by government agencies or NGOs.
"Some of the NGOs and government departments approached us for helping them in packaging dry ration for distribution and I found the inmates to be enthusiastic about the job," he said.
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