Hyderabad: Kin of victims to get jobs

Hyderabad: The prisons department will provide jobs to families who have lost their breadwinners to an act of crime. The department has a slew of schemes for prisoners and for the destitute.

Prisons director-general Vinoy Kumar Singh said the department had sanctioned to establish 100 new fuel stations in the state and offer jobs to eligible persons from the families of victims of crime.

“The purpose is to reach out to the victims’ families who are left without support,” Mr Singh said. The jobs would be allocated according to the residential location of these persons. He said the department contacts former prisoners to inform them about job fairs and vacancies and encourage them to take up the opportunities.

Mr Singh has proposed welfare initiatives like providing education and jobs to prisoners, nurturing their mental health. He has introduced rules like ‘no helmet, no fuel’ at prisoner-run petrol bunks and has given accommodation and training to destitutes and beggars so that they can find employment. 

The job fair organised by the prisons department in September was attended by 230 former prisoners of whom155 secured employment. Companies like HDFC, Ford and Flipkart were among the 12 companies that participated in the fair.

“The companies are willing to hire these persons when they are introduced by the prison authorities. Had these men tried for jobs directly, companies would have hesitated to hire them because of their criminal background,” said an official from the prisons department.

A total of 171 former prisoners received jobs in a fair organised by the prisons department at Mahbubnagar in 2017.