The sale of jail-made articles enhances the reputation of the prison
Picture for representational purpose
HYDERABAD: Telangana jails are being deprived of revenue running into crores of rupees despite a Government Order asking all departments to purchase phenyl, blankets and other material produced from factories in the jail.
While jail products are sold at a lesser price than those in the open market and have also been certified as high quality, government departments are calling for tenders. Sources said several irregularities have also been observed in the tender process.
Cherlapally Central Prison superintendent K. Venkateswara Reddy has recently written to district collectors in Telangana asking them to follow the GO. “Cherlapally Central Prison is running furniture, weaving, soap, phenyl, durrie and tailoring units.
Our director-general V.K. Singh has directed us to capture the market by increasing the turnover of the jail-made articles and also enhancing the quality of the products. It will provide sufficient wages and more employment opportunity to the inmates.
The sale of jail-made articles not only enhances the reputation of the prisons department but also contributes to the state exchequer. A jail official said, “If all the departments purchase from us, the prisons department can at least earn Rs 200 crore per annum. We have got orders worth only Rs 1 crore. For obvious reasons, the departments are procuring items from outside,” he said.
( Source : dc correspondent )
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