My visit to JAIL

Dec 25, 2009 was the day when I visited the Central Jail in Ahmedabad and met the prisoners and the Officers there. This visit was planned to complete the class project on Jail Bhaijiya Van which is the brainchild of the DIG of Ahmedabad.

Early morning we reached the DIG's office though it was a holiday but we were given good attention by the staff in the Control Room and with their suggestion we followed the road towards the Central Jail, the feeling was so good. There we saw many prisoners working as carpenters, working for the construction of the wall. I felt very happy after all this the Government is helping to learn and prove themselves to be of good behaviour and also mainly allowing them to kill their time.

Further, after informing the security we went inside and met the IPS who had a small discussion with us and understood our purpose of visiting the Jail. He was so helpful that he called his Deputy Superintendent (DS) and suggested him to help us in any manner they could.

DS was such a nice person that he gave us all the information about the Bhajiya Van and directed us the way to the actual van where we met the cook and the helpers. In his office we saw that the prisoners were working on computers, were handling the correspondence, after a while we saw one prisoner came to us with glass of water and cuppa tea. They are so well trained and all this with the help of the Government; DS then shared with us that the prisoners who are under "rigouros imprisonment" have to give their time in any work alloted by the officials: in the canteen, as cook, as carpenter, on computer anything what the convict can do.

Officials after analyzing their behaviour send them to open jail which is different from the regular jail; its like an open farm house where every work is carried out by prisoners. These prisoners from the open jail are sent to the outside Bhajiya Van and Bhajiya Shop to cook and serve.

Later we met the cook of the Mobile Bhajiya Van and to our surprise he had spent 12 years in jail and is waiting to go back home after 2 years; he was imprisoned under the murder case.

We were happy to know that the Government is helping the prisoners to learn things, they are helping them to rehabilitate after they go out and above all to become a responsible citizen of the country.

I must say that these measures will surely help to change the mind set of the convict and the public where the public confronts the prisoners cooking and serving them the Bhajiya.

We also came to know about the provision of bank accounts for prisoners, their coupon system in canteen, their spending capacity, their meeting time with family and many such minute things which the Government is taking care.

The experience was mind-blowing and I felt that the Government is working on a direction where the convicts can learn new things as per their abilities and will be independent after going out of the four walls of Jail.