The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Jail inmates are wheeling their way to goodwill

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jun 01, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Jail inmates are wheeling their way to goodwill

Raghava M.

64 refurbished wheelchairs will be given to hospitals, KSRTC, Railways

15 inmates refurbish the wheelchairs
Each inmate gets Rs. 250 for every such wheelchair

Service: An inmate of Bangalore Central Prison refurbishing a wheelchair.

BANGALORE: There is more demand for second-hand wheelchairs refurbished by inmates of Bangalore Central Prison. Eight government hospitals in the city, the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), the Railways, and a non-governmental organisation (NGO) have ordered wheelchairs for physically challenged people.

The chairman of the State Human Rights Commission, S.R. Nayak, will distribute 64 wheelchairs at a function on Monday.

While the Railways and the KSRTC have ordered 10 wheelchairs each, the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, Victoria Hospital, Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital, the Jayadeva Institute of Cardiology and the Kidwai Institute of Oncology have sought four each. Minto Eye Hospital, Bangalore Dental College and Jayadeva Government Hospital have asked for two wheelchairs each, and two will be given to Asha Niketan, an NGO working for the mentally challenged.

The Prisons Department will be given two wheelchairs for each of its central prisons in Bangalore, Mysore, Bellary, Gulbarga, Bijapur, Belgaum and Dharwad. One wheelchair will be given to 60-year-old Huligowda, a retired warden in Tumkur district prison, and one to 50-year-old Booraiah, who is serving as head warden in Bangalore Central Prison.

Since 2007, the inmates of Bangalore Central Prison have beenrefurbishing second-hand wheelchairs brought from U.S. by proVision Asia, an affiliate of the NGO Joni and Friends Intl.

The organisation takes the refurbished wheelchairs and makes customised changes before giving it free of cost to physically challenged persons in the State as part of its “Wheels for the World” programme.

Fifteen inmates are involved in refurbishing the wheelchairs. Each inmate gets Rs. 250 for every such wheelchair.

Seeing the work, Additional Director-General of Police (Prisons) S.T. Ramesh proposed that proVision Asia provide free wheelchairs for physically challenged people.Mr. Ramesh held talks with officials from the organisations who came forward to order wheelchairs. “I want people to benefit from this project,” he said.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Karnataka