<p> Mahatma Gandhi’s reformative zeal that ''prisoners are wards of the state, not slaves,'' is catalysing new initiatives in the prison administration in Tamil Nadu to make inmates better persons when they are due for release. <br /><br /></p>.<p>In tune with this new reformative and rehabilitative approach to prisoners as modern penal systems deemphasise “retribution and punishment,” Tamil Nadu’s most modern prison at Puzhal will have a new state-of-the-art “bakery unit.”<br /><br />Though vocational training for inmates and small units putting those skills to good use to keep them engaged has been going on in various central prisons in the State, this new “Bakery Unit” at Puzhal is billed to be a path-braking enterprise, rolling out delicious cakes, bread and cookies for retail stores outside.<br /><br />While an NGO is already running a small bakery in Puzha I prison, the new full-fledged “bakery unit” to be set up in this prison is part of an ambitious “intensive reformative programme (IRP)” by the Tamil Nadu Government to put prisoners on a constructive track and impart them the confidence and self-esteem to start small business after serving their sentences in Jail. <br /><br />State Additional DGP (Prison Department) S K Dogra has given an urgent thrust to the “IRP” that includes creating new infrastructure facilities in the major prisons to help them excel in small enterprises. Chief Minister J Jayalalitha on Friday passed an order sanctioning Rs 45 lakh for the “bakery unit,” which will include a state-of-the-art oven and other kitchen installations.<br /><br />The construction at Puzhal—to house the old Madras Central Prison which was shifted from the heart of the city to the outskirts in November 2006 to avoid over-crowding—has been a unique project by the Tamil Nadu Government to symbolise this shift to a reformative approach in recent years.<br /><br />Situated on 212 acres, the Puzhal Prison Complex, constructed then at a cost of Rs 77 crore, has two big prison blocks, I and II, each with a capacity to hold 1,250 inmates. The first prison accommodates convict prisoners, while the second one is for remand prisoners.</p>
<p> Mahatma Gandhi’s reformative zeal that ''prisoners are wards of the state, not slaves,'' is catalysing new initiatives in the prison administration in Tamil Nadu to make inmates better persons when they are due for release. <br /><br /></p>.<p>In tune with this new reformative and rehabilitative approach to prisoners as modern penal systems deemphasise “retribution and punishment,” Tamil Nadu’s most modern prison at Puzhal will have a new state-of-the-art “bakery unit.”<br /><br />Though vocational training for inmates and small units putting those skills to good use to keep them engaged has been going on in various central prisons in the State, this new “Bakery Unit” at Puzhal is billed to be a path-braking enterprise, rolling out delicious cakes, bread and cookies for retail stores outside.<br /><br />While an NGO is already running a small bakery in Puzha I prison, the new full-fledged “bakery unit” to be set up in this prison is part of an ambitious “intensive reformative programme (IRP)” by the Tamil Nadu Government to put prisoners on a constructive track and impart them the confidence and self-esteem to start small business after serving their sentences in Jail. <br /><br />State Additional DGP (Prison Department) S K Dogra has given an urgent thrust to the “IRP” that includes creating new infrastructure facilities in the major prisons to help them excel in small enterprises. Chief Minister J Jayalalitha on Friday passed an order sanctioning Rs 45 lakh for the “bakery unit,” which will include a state-of-the-art oven and other kitchen installations.<br /><br />The construction at Puzhal—to house the old Madras Central Prison which was shifted from the heart of the city to the outskirts in November 2006 to avoid over-crowding—has been a unique project by the Tamil Nadu Government to symbolise this shift to a reformative approach in recent years.<br /><br />Situated on 212 acres, the Puzhal Prison Complex, constructed then at a cost of Rs 77 crore, has two big prison blocks, I and II, each with a capacity to hold 1,250 inmates. The first prison accommodates convict prisoners, while the second one is for remand prisoners.</p>
