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Visakhapatnam
A prison with cozy COMFORTS
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"We don't feel as though we are in a jail, this is like a home away from home for us".
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Time for recreation! Prisoners play carroms, read books and relax in their cell. Photos:K.R .Deepak
"We had never expected that a prison would be like this. All these years we have been watching on television and films, prisoners being beaten up by jailors and warders and made to break stones. Our perception has changed after seeing this one," was the general impression of the visitors to the new Central Prison at Adavivaram.
Located amidst sylvan surroundings and green-capped hills providing a pleasant backdrop, this prison on a 100-acre site has the right ambience for reform. The lush greenery all around, well laid-out roads, an open-air auditorium, which can accommodate 1,000 inmates, the modern watch towers and cells have caught the attention of a large number of visitors during the Prison Week celebrations.
Students going round the Central Prison as part of the prison week .
It is no surprise that over 500 persons visited the jail on the first day alone.
If you haven't been there yet, it is high time you walked in to find out for yourself what has given a new identity to these `institutions of reform'. For the record, the Central Prisons in Visakhapatnam and the one at Cherlapally on the outskirts of Hyderabad have been built based on international standards. The prisoners are given training in various skills so that they could eke out a living on their own, once they are set free.
The old thinking that prisoners should be punished severely and treated shabbily in order to make them realise their mistakes has changed and now the emphasis is on providing them a stress-free environment so that they could ponder over their follies with a cool head and correct themselves.
"We don't feel as though we are in a jail. It is like a home away from home for us though we do miss our near and dear. We have learnt Rajayoga training from the Brahmakumaris and it has made us treat everybody like brothers and sisters," say M. Babu Rao and Y. Paradesi Naidu, both serving life sentences for their involvement in murders. The duo was seen taking turns at the stall opened by the Brahmakumaris to impress upon the visitors on the need to practise meditation. They were explaining the concepts so convincingly that they could be mistaken for representatives of the organisation, had they not been in their jail uniform.
"The training course had such an influence on the inmates that a few of them had initiated the opening of Brahmakumari centres in their villages back home after their release. A former prisoner, S. Ramu, of Jami mandal in Vizianagaram district set up a centre in Vijjannagiri to impart training to interested persons," say B.K. Narayana and B.K. Roja of the Railway New Colony branch of Brahmakumaris.
A training centre was opened in the new jail premises and prisoners trained in meditation. Eight of the trainees (prisoners) have picked up so well that they conduct the classes on their own. They conduct the classes from 6 a.m. to 7.30 a.m. on all days of the week except on Sundays, when the instructors from the branch take the classes.
The prisoners are given training in tailoring, making steel furniture, weaving and bookbinding. The products can match, if not excel, the established brands in quality. The almirahs made with superior grade steel cost much less than the established brands and are provided with extra hinges for greater security.
In all, 60 prisoners are undergoing training in steel furniture making. The training normally extends up to three months after which they would make the products at the workshops located in the jail. Five inmates have opted for tailoring and six sewing machines are given to them. Weaving and bookbinding are the other trades being taught at the prison.
While inmates like Babu Rao and Paradesi Naidu have learnt to reconcile themselves to the situation, there are others who are unable to do so even after spending 11 years in jail. Two brothers, M. Simmaiah and M. Jaddenna, were sentenced along with 62 others for their involvement in a political murder.
Visitors going round the Central Prison complex.
"Before coming here we only knew tending sheep and working as farm labourers. We learnt weaving after coming here. But after going back we would like to continue our family tradition of tending sheep," they say.
K. Anna Rao, a prisoner from Bobbili, who is serving a life sentence for murder, has learnt making wood carving from the carpentry instructor, Rama Rao. He can now make masterpieces out of waste wood. His products would be displayed at the Industrial Exhibition to be held in Hyderabad later this year.
Some of the prisoners have given up smoking on the advice of the prison officials. Separate blocks are allotted to non-smokers on request.
A typical prisoners block consists of 21 beds and a majority of the blocks have been equipped with televisions. The prisoners of each block are given a newspaper of their choice for reading during the leisure. They are given a balanced diet according to schedule. On Sundays, they are given 175 grams of chicken or mutton.
"The feasibility of starting a coir unit and the marketability of various products in the local market is being studied. The steel furniture products are selling like hot cakes here and we also have plans to launch a couple of new trades," says the Prison Superintendent, B. Sunil Kumar.
"The jail is designed to accommodate 820 prisoners comfortably. We have provided toilets and bathrooms in the ratio of 1:6 and 1:10 respectively. The prisoners are also being taught about good behaviour and hygiene. Once they are released from jail, they would feel ashamed to indulge in open defecation, which has become a major health and social problem," he says.
The 'masterpieces' made by prisoners kept on display.
The prison has study centres of Andhra University and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Open University through which the interested inmates could complete their graduation and post-graduation. There is a library, which is equipped with different kinds of books, newspapers and magazines.
One may ask, with timely meals, balanced diet, facilities for recreation and lodged in the lap of nature, who would like to be released from the jail? "When you restrict the freedom of a man, he would like to be set free, whatever comforts you may give him," says Mr. Sunil Kumar.
Some time back in a discourse at the jail, Tridandi Srimannarayana Ramanuja China Jeeyar Swami, said, "Those who are outside do not have the time to review their actions. At least you (prisoners) have the time to go in for introspection and begin a new lease of life on release from prison." In fact, for that purpose only, these penitentiaries have been created.
B. MADHU GOPAL
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Metro Plus
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