Assam's Barpeta District Jail becomes farming hub as inmates engage in multi-crop cultivation

Barpeta (Assam): It might appear to be just another normal prison at first glance, but as one steps inside the Barpeta District Jail complex in Assam, it is nothing less than an agricultural hub with vast fields of multiple crops.

Located in lower Assam, the fields in the jail compound are filled with mustard, along with trees laden with fruits and vegetables, a mini bee farm, and even rare crops like nutritious apple berries.

Spread over 127 bighas (almost 42 acres), the Barpeta jail has a capacity to house 413 inmates – 368 men and 45 women. It currently has 335 inmates, including 325 men and 10 women.

"I, along with the jailer, got transferred to this prison around a year ago. At that time, only paddy farming was done. We decided to go for multi-cropping to utilise the land throughout the year," Barpeta District Jail Superintendent Pranjal Kumar Sarma told PTI.

Thanks to the new initiatives, the jail generated a revenue of over Rs 1 lakh for the government during the April-December period last year by selling agricultural produce alone, he said.

"Apart from revenue generation, there was another reason for introducing year-long agriculture activities. The inmates are always mentally stressed due to their jail terms and for staying away from home. We tried to reduce their stress level by engaging them in productive work. They laugh and share jokes with each other while working in the fields," Sarma said.

He said all the produce is purely organic and no chemical or fertiliser is used during farming.

What makes this transformation even more special is that the prisoners are engaged in all agrarian activities within the premises, which keeps them engaged and helps them learn a new skill for the life after release from jail.

Jailer Nilotpal Kakati said multi-cropping started from April last year, after the authorities cleared the weeds from the unused barren lands and made them cultivable.

"We could utilise only 35-40 bighas of land as there is shortage of manpower. Though we have over 300 inmates, we could engage only 20-25 of them serving rigorous imprisonment due to legal restrictions. The law does not allow the rest to work in the fields," he said.

Kakati, however, said the jail authorities are planning to expand the farming area this year by engaging a few more people, thereby increasing the produce.

Asked about the marketing, he said, "So far, we have not marketed it outside Barpeta. Local vendors come and collect the vegetables from us. The jail inmates also consumed around 1,000 kgs of vegetables last year, resulting in savings for us." The jailer said that with expansion of produce and introduction of some cash crops, the authorities will explore outside markets later this year.

Vegetables like lady finger, mustard, ginger, brinjal, cabbage, reddish and several cruciferous ones, including perennial Indian favourites cauliflower and cabbages, are grown in the jail premises. Additionally, the compound houses a small fishery for inhouse consumption.

Another highlight is a small berry farm, housing around 200 trees producing several precious variants of the fruit – Apple Berry, Miss India and Thailand Berry.

Kakati also claimed that berry farming is the first of its kind in an Indian jail.

The jail authorities have recently started planting strawberries and varieties of flowers in an effort to uplift the mood of the inmates as well as employees.

"The multi-cropping farming was done as a pilot project this time. We wanted to check if the land is cultivable. As we got satisfactory results, we will try to do it in a more professional way in the next fiscal," he said.

The Barpeta civil administration has taken note of the agricultural practices in the district jail and lauded the efforts of Sarma and Kakati.

Barpeta Additional District Commissioner Jayanta Bora, who recently visited the facility, has stressed that being engaged with agriculture could inadvertently help the inmates step away from a life of crime and become honest citizens.

"Apart from generating revenue for the government, agriculture in the jail will allow the prisoners to step out of their routine and motivate them to be more productive citizens," he said.

Initially established as a makeshift jail in Barpeta town, it was relocated to its present location, just two kilometers outside the town, in 1970.