Inmates will be taught to make ignition switches and fuel tank caps; skills that will equip them to make a living after their release
Two-wheelers of leading brands will soon have components made by woman prisoners of Yerawada Central Jail in Pune, Maharashtra. Inmates will be taught to make ignition switches and fuel tank caps; skills that will equip them to make a living after their release.
Nitin Kshirsagar, senior jailor, Yerawada Central Jail, said women inmates would manufacture two-wheeler parts for Minda Corporation Limited.
"Our male inmates are already making wiring harnesses for Boleros (in collaboration with Minda SAI and Mahindra and Mahindra)," added Kshirsagar.
Amol Pagare, deputy manager (human resources), Minda Corporation, said the initiative was part of the group's Corporate Social Responsibility.
"We will launch training for 15 woman inmates on June 1, and the formal inauguration of the manufacturing will take place in June second week. We plan to scale up the number of women in the venture to 50," Pagare said.
According to Pagare, leading manufacturers Bajaj, TVS, Mahindra & Mahindra and Royal Enfield are their customers.
"Though the work will be order-based, we expect that the production by inmates will touch up to 2,000 units per day. The jail will be paid Rs250 per inmate per day," he noted, adding that a permanent employee of the company will be deputed to oversee production in the prison.
"The same job done outside may cost us around Rs 350 (per worker per day). Here, we have to account for transportation costs (of raw material and finished goods)," said Pagare.
There are 279 inmates, including undertrials and convicts, in the women's section of the jail, which has a capacity of just 126. The men's section that can accommodate 2,323 inmates currently houses around 5,049 of them.
High-security jail, one of the largest in Maharashtra, is spread over 500 acres and was constructed by the British in 1871. Several freedom fighters like Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Sarojini Naidu, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, and Netaji Subhashchandra Bose were jailed here.
In 1932, Mahatma Gandhi signed the historic Poona Pact with Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar in this prison. Revolutionary Damodar Hari Chaphekar and his brothers Vasudeo and Balkrishna were executed in this jail for assassinating British officer Rand in 1897.
It has also housed underworld don Arun Gawli and actor Sanjay Dutt. Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab was hanged here in 2012.
Maharashtra has 54 prisons, including nine central jails, 19 class-I district prisons, 23 class-II district prisons and three class-III district jails, in addition to 172 sub-jails. This also includes 13 open prisons, including two for women, one special prison at Ratnagiri, one women prison at Byculla, one open colony at Atpadi in Sangli, and one Borstal school at Nashik.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "Woman prisoners")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}