The Hindu : Other States / Orissa News : Vocational training initiative yields rich dividends

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Wednesday, Dec 27, 2006
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Vocational training initiative yields rich dividends

Correspondent

Five Koraput jail inmates become experts in making quality chalk

Koraput: A schoolteacher standing in front of a jail gate asking for some boxes of chalk for his school might look strange. But it's true. The district jail at Koraput is now regarded as the best place to get chalk of unchallenged quality for the past few months.

Five trained prisoners have been making quality pieces of chalk with the raw materials procured by the jail authorities under the vocational training programme, jail superintendent D.N. Panda said.

Good demand

He said though the demand for the products were high in the market, the inmates were not engaged to manufacture in a large-scale.

The success story of the jail inmates was intimated to the higher authorities, he said.

The jail has also the distinction of manufacturing good mattresses made from the sisal fibre available in the locality and also cotton lungis, bedsheets and towels. The products made by jail inmates were a big draw at the recently concluded Parab festival at Koraput.

Popularity

This was testimony to popularity that these products enjoyed among public, Mr. Panda said.

Encouraged with the success of the vocational training, the jail authorities have now planned to grow vegetables in five acres adjoining the jail.

Mr. Panda said the jail had earned Rs 1.16 lakh from the sale of the products made by the inmates.

He said Koraput jail inmates have become role models for others to follow.

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