Telangana jails to earn Rs 100 crore in next 10 years

Hyderabad: From steel chairs to wooden furniture, soaps to pooja material, carpets, bed sheets, towels, baked goods and soon, Telangana prisons are turning into a hub of productive activities while empowering prisoners to earn some money.

Motivated by the success of the existing initiatives to sell prison products, the department has come up with yet another measure to engage the prisoners and is planning to construct permanent stores. Apart from the Chanchalguda Central Prison, the jails in Mahbubnagar, Warangal, Karimnagar and  Nalgonda have makeshift shops to sell produce.

“There is a under construction store in the Sangareddy Jail Museum. Apart from that, we are planning to build 15X12 feet rooms to operate the stores near other prisons,” said V.K. Singh, DG of prisons, Telangana.

These prison outlets, which can be visited by anyone, will be run by the inmates. “The most profitable venture is the petrol bunk near the Chanchalguda Central Prison. The department is earning Rs 2 crore per annum from it,” he said.   Mr Singh said that the aim is to generate revenue of Rs 100 crore from the Telangana prison in the next 10 years.