The central jails in Kerala will begin producing khadi fabric with the goal of educating inmates and helping them develop self-respect and confidence via employment. The Kerala Khadi and Village Industries Board and the prisons department have agreed in a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that the fabric made by the inmates will be purchased by the Board and distributed through its retail locations.
According to Prisons Director General Balram Kumar Upadhyay, the project is a component of attempts to give offenders skill training and enable them to earn a respectable living while serving a prison sentence.
The Khadi Board would provide yarn to the jails, as per the MoU that was inked between the prisons department and the board. The board will purchase the fabric that the skilled inmates have created using the yarn.
“We want to provide them the same remuneration that we give to our spinners and weavers,” said a senior Khadi Board official.
The official stated that the Khadi Board’s spinners and weavers make about Rs 10,000 when adding their basic pay to the benefits they receive from the state government.
“We are checking whether there are any legal issues in the inmates getting the extra perks from the government apart from their basic remuneration. If there is none, then they will get the same amount that our weavers and spinners are getting,” the official added.
In a later stage of the scheme, the Khadi Board will also supply fabric and acquire finished shirts made by the prisoners. According to Balram, the department is also looking for other customers who could be interested in buying the products manufactured by the prisoners.
“We have handlooms and powerlooms in central prisons. If there is demand, we can manufacture bed sheets, pillows and garments in commercial quantities,” he added.
