JOIN USIn an attempt to win over the prisoners, by tuning them into intelligence personnel, Home Minister K J George appealed to them to share information on conspiracies behind bars.
Addressing the inmates of the Central Prisons Mysore, here, on Sunday, after opening the PG Study Centre of the Karnataka State Open University and launching a handicrafts camp using silk, organised by Anthahakarana organisation and Sericulture department, George recalled the infamous jail break of prisoner Jaishankar from Parappana Agrahara jail in Bengaluru, that pushed the government into a tight spot.
George felt that it would have been foiled if the fellow inmates had brought the plan to the notice of the officials. “In the case of such prisoners, the inmates can share the information. The officials will maintain secrecy and also try to counsel such prisoners. If it turns out to be a wasteful exercise, such prisoners will be shifted to other jails,” he said.
The government is committed to protect human rights, including that of convicts. Some NGOs and other organisations too have been keeping track of the authorities concerned in this regard. Taking cognisance of such developments, the facilities inside jails are being improved and the recent one is the hike in food allowance for prisoners, besides reforms in health and basic infrastructure facilities for prisoners,” George said.
Jail stay
George recalled that he was jailed along with several others for three days for protesting against the arrest of Indira Gandhi in the year 1970. It helped me in understanding the plight of the prison inmates, as some of them were forced to remain behind bars for failure to pay the fine amount. George said: “After taking over the charge of Home Ministry, I have taken note of such convicts. However, it is a good development that generous organisations are helping by paying the fine amount”.
13 students
In all, 13 inmates have enrolled for various PG courses in the KSOU. A majority of them have opted for Political Science.
The camp in the prison, in its fourth year, has already produced several graduates, including eight this year. A woman prisoner was among the recent pass outs.