Products made by jail inmates rake in revenue

Jail factories seem to be on an upswing, reporting an increase in revenue from the products made by inmates in 2015, raking over Rs 200 crore for the first time.

Last year, the jails across the country sold products worth Rs 201.89 crore, an increase of 32.94% from Rs 151.86 crore in 2014. If one compares this year’s revenue with that of 2013, the increase figures at 57.43% from Rs 128.24 crore.

In 2014, the Prison Statistics India 2015 showed Tamil Nadu with the highest gross value of sale proceeds of Rs 47.87 crore last year, with an increase of Rs 10.90 crore.

Delhi crawled back to the second spot last year with Rs 31.13 crore, up from Rs 14.72 crore, while Kerala was pushed one step down to the third place with sales worth Rs 22.90 crore.

Jails in Karnataka sold products worth Rs 3.41 crore made by inmates, compared to Rs 2.97 crore in 2014.

Other states with big returns in 2015 are Bihar (Rs 19.5 crore), Maharashtra (Rs 19.45 crore) and Uttar Pradesh (Rs 14.85 crore).

The value of goods produced per inmate was highest in Tamil Nadu (Rs 33,901), followed by Kerala (Rs 31,265.5) and Delhi (Rs 21,953).

“The gainful work done by jail inmates not only provides a corrective approach to the psyche of the offender, but also goes a long way in developing a responsive and respectful attitude towards society,” the report prepared by the National Crime Records Bureau said.

The prisoners not only develop self-confidence and self-esteem due to the valuable labour, but these activities also help them earn an honourable livelihood after their release from prison, it added.