The state government allots 100 acres of land to establish India's first National Prison's Academy near Vikarabad,
Director general of Prisons And Correctional Services T P Das said that the state government has allotted 100 acres of land to establish India's first National Prison's Academy near Vikarabad, and that the works would be initiated soon.
He said that the academy would provide training to officials working in all prisons across the country.
T P Das was speaking to media persons on Tuesday, after signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Himalaya Drugs Company at a private hotel, to impart training skills to the inmates of the prison as part of a pilot.
He said that the department of Prisons has taken up the cultivation of mangoes and neem plantations on 200 acres each, as, he said, there is a huge demand for mangoes cultivated under the supervision of the prisoners.
Moreover, the inmates are also earning decent income by the cultivation, he added.
The DG Prisons said that several inmates suffer from depression during the jail term, and that these activities not only help them deal with mental stress but also provide them with good income.
As per Human Rights rules, inmates should be provided work that keeps them busy during their term so that they can live without mental agony, he stated. The NGOs are also coming forward voluntarily to improve prisoners' skills, he stated.
T P Das said that the government would hold a "World Conference" on prisoners' issues, in Hyderabad next year - he said this would would be a reward to the Asian sub-continent.
Issues of bringing prisoners into the mainstream, their rights, and training would be the topics of discussion during the conference, he said.
The director general said that Hyderabad has already been rewarded for establishing an open air jail, the first of its kind, at Maula Ali in 1954. He stressed the need to rehabilitate prisoners, and said that jail authorities go through much while bringing inmates into the mainstream so that they lead normal lives after their release from jail.
Head of Agrotech and Phytochemistry, Himalaya Drug Company Doctor Babu said that his company was providing seeds, technical support, scientists and packaging material, and a 100% buy back guarantee, while the department of Prisons has been extending support in the form of infrastructure, water, electricity and manpower, for the project.
He said that in the first phase of the project, "Alfalfa" would be cultivated in two acres of land at the Agricultural Colony in Anantapur. This cultivation would be ready in a short span of 30 days, with a quantum of 3 to 6 tons of yield per annum, he said. (INN)