The Hindu : Front Page : Tirupur looks to prisoner-workers

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Sunday, Nov 25, 2007
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Tirupur looks to prisoner-workers

V.S. Palaniappan

Coimbatore: Coimbatore Central Prison authorities are planning a sort of tie-up with hosiery and knitwear units in Tirupur town to provide work to convict prisoners.

In the short term, the programme will give work to all convict prisoners, and in the long term it will equip them with skills so that they get employment on their release. The arrangement will enable sourcing job works from the hosiery and knitwear units for the prisoners.

As per the prison manual, barring remand and undertrial prisoners, all prisoners sentenced to rigorous imprisonment will have to work, the wages for which will be given to them on their discharge. A part of the wages they can use for their needs during the sentence period.

The Central Prison, with sanctioned accommodation for 2,208, now has about 2,352 prisoners, including 65 women. Of these, those serving life, long-term and short-term sentences and four facing death sentences have to be provided with work.

Deputy Inspector-General of Prisons P. Munivelu and Superintendent of Prisons, Coimbatore Central Prison, S. Rajendran, had a meeting with representatives of hosiery units. The prison already has a weaving unit, book binding unit, handloom unit, bandage cloth manufacturing unit and a bleaching unit. These cannot provide work to all convicts. The prison authorities with the help of the district administration plan to open a hollow block manufacturing unit and a bakery unit shortly.

The arrangement with the hosiery and knitwear units will be mutually beneficial. The prisoners will get work and income while the hosiery units, facing manpower shortage and incurring huge expenditure on manpower, will get hands at a lesser cost.

The prison officials will go to Tirupur shortly to identify job works that could be given to the prisoners. The officials hope to finalise the tie-up soon, and expect the prisoners to start working from January.

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