Scam in TN jails forces shutdown of rehab units
Shanmughasundaram J & Subburaj A
|
VelloreCoimbatore
TNN
|
These convicts were expected to learn a trade by providing haircuts. Instead they found a way to shave off a portion of the earnings from the scheme.Fast food restaurants, barber shops, tailoring units and laundries run by jailbirds as part of a rehabilitation exercise across Tamil Nadu have been shut down after officials unearthed a scam involving inmates and prison personnel.
The decision to close down the units, mostly functioning outside prison premises, was taken after vigilance teams seized lakhs of rupees from convicts during recent raids in the prisons at Vellore, Trichy , Co imbatore and Puzhal in Chennai. The units were run under the aegis of the Freedom Bazaar scheme, which marketed products and services rendered by prisoners, mostly serving life sentences.
Under the project, income earned from various sources was to be deposited in a prison bazaar account. A certain percentage was paid to prisoners as daily wages, while the remaining was meant for development activities in the prison.
The units, intended to provide skill-based training for life after prison, found instant acceptance when they opened. But eventually jail personnel colluded with the prisoners manning the units to siphon off the earnings, said a prison official on condition of anonymity. A raid by a vigilance team in November last was the first to uncover the scam.
“Based on several complaints, prison vigilance teams fanned out across the state to raid prison bazaars. We have temporarily suspended the activities of the bazaars based on their report,“ said a senior police officer, not willing to be named. The bazaars would be opened after the assembly election, he said. “The team seized around `30,000 from the tailoring and ironing units in Vellore prison. The subsequent inquiry divulged that prison department personnel and inmates embezzled the earnings,“ said a reliable source.
The prison department shut down these units inside Vellore jail on Saturday . They were also directed to close a canteen run by the department. Raids at other central prisons over the last few months have exposed similar malpractic es, said another source.
In Coimbatore, jail authorities have shut down a barber shop, a hotel, bakery and a motorcycle stand run by inmates. More than 50 life convicts worked in these units.Coimbatore prison superintendent D Palani said the units were shut down but would be reopened after the assembly election.
A senior official at Vellore Central Prison for Men told TOI that convicts had also siphoned off money earned from selling products in the bazaar units. Officials declined to go into details. “We are closing the units to revamp them.They will be opened after a few months. The tailoring unit will function until it completes the work orders,“ said an official.Chennai Central Prison in Puzhal was the first to open Freedom Bazaar units in January 2014. Others followed, providing avenues to generate jobs for convicts. The Vellore department inaugurated tailoring and ironing units in October 2014.A group of five life convicts ran the barber shop, the first of its kind in the state.
After undergoing training in hairstyling, they began providing services not just for prison and police personnel, but also the public.
Buoyed by the overwhelming response, the prison department also opened a restaurant opposite the prison campus in Vellore which catered to customers from 4pm to 10pm.
The decision to close down the units, mostly functioning outside prison premises, was taken after vigilance teams seized lakhs of rupees from convicts during recent raids in the prisons at Vellore, Trichy , Co imbatore and Puzhal in Chennai. The units were run under the aegis of the Freedom Bazaar scheme, which marketed products and services rendered by prisoners, mostly serving life sentences.
Under the project, income earned from various sources was to be deposited in a prison bazaar account. A certain percentage was paid to prisoners as daily wages, while the remaining was meant for development activities in the prison.
The units, intended to provide skill-based training for life after prison, found instant acceptance when they opened. But eventually jail personnel colluded with the prisoners manning the units to siphon off the earnings, said a prison official on condition of anonymity. A raid by a vigilance team in November last was the first to uncover the scam.
“Based on several complaints, prison vigilance teams fanned out across the state to raid prison bazaars. We have temporarily suspended the activities of the bazaars based on their report,“ said a senior police officer, not willing to be named. The bazaars would be opened after the assembly election, he said. “The team seized around `30,000 from the tailoring and ironing units in Vellore prison. The subsequent inquiry divulged that prison department personnel and inmates embezzled the earnings,“ said a reliable source.
The prison department shut down these units inside Vellore jail on Saturday . They were also directed to close a canteen run by the department. Raids at other central prisons over the last few months have exposed similar malpractic es, said another source.
In Coimbatore, jail authorities have shut down a barber shop, a hotel, bakery and a motorcycle stand run by inmates. More than 50 life convicts worked in these units.Coimbatore prison superintendent D Palani said the units were shut down but would be reopened after the assembly election.
A senior official at Vellore Central Prison for Men told TOI that convicts had also siphoned off money earned from selling products in the bazaar units. Officials declined to go into details. “We are closing the units to revamp them.They will be opened after a few months. The tailoring unit will function until it completes the work orders,“ said an official.Chennai Central Prison in Puzhal was the first to open Freedom Bazaar units in January 2014. Others followed, providing avenues to generate jobs for convicts. The Vellore department inaugurated tailoring and ironing units in October 2014.A group of five life convicts ran the barber shop, the first of its kind in the state.
After undergoing training in hairstyling, they began providing services not just for prison and police personnel, but also the public.
Buoyed by the overwhelming response, the prison department also opened a restaurant opposite the prison campus in Vellore which catered to customers from 4pm to 10pm.
No comments:
Post a Comment