Karnataka - Gulbarga   

Freedom from illiteracy for jail inmates

T.V. Sivanandan

A STEP TO REFORMATION: Jail inmates attending a literacy programme

GULBARGA: Inmates of Gulbarga Central Prison have stepped out of a life of drudgery and strict regimen and entered the world of knowledge.

The initiative to help them was taken by Parameshwar S. Whagdargi, a teacher posted as coordinator for the reformation of inmates, and Ramanna Bhimappa, a former headmaster of a government school in Yadgir who was sentenced to life imprisonment in a murder case.

Now, almost all the inmates in the prison, including undertrials and those serving life sentences, are literate. In an evaluation by the NSS (National Service Scheme) unit of Gulbarga University of the impact of the literacy programme under the Kannada Nadu Shakshara Nadu project in the jail, most of neo-literates came out with flying colours.

Initially, the district authorities of the project were reluctant to start the literacy programme in the Central Prison for various reasons. However, Mr. Whagdargi and Prison Superintendent T.H. Lakshminarayan persuaded them to open Kalika Kendras. Mr. Whagdargi told The Hindu that the jail authorities wrote to Director of the Lok Shikshana Directorate Nagalambika about the need for starting Kalika Kendras in the prison, and she directed the authorities concerned to do so.

He said the inmates were initially not receptive to the literacy programme but they were persuaded to enrol. The 120-day programme included writing lessons in Kannada and basic mathematics.

Ramanna Bhimappa and a few other convicts worked as volunteers at the Kalika Kendra to help their fellow inmates to become literate. A separate Kalika Kendra was established for women convicts and undertrials.

Mr. Whagdargi and Sharanabasavaraju of the NSS unit of Gulbarga University, who headed the team of evaluators, said most of the convicts were primary school dropouts and were illiterate. The Kalika Kendras functioned in the evenings so that the inmates could attend classes after completing their routine work in the prison.

Mr. Whagdargi said as a follow-up measure, a continuing education programme should be launched for the prison inmates. The Government should build a classroom to enable them to continue their education and the jail authorities to impart moral education to them. "Education is an important tool in the reformation process of convicts," he said.

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