GURUGRAM When Vartika Nanda, a prison reformer, visited Panipat Jail a week ago to talk to the inmates about the newly launched ‘Jail Radio’, an 80-year-old convict told her that he was feeling elated for the first time ever since he was in jail.
“It was a very interesting conversation. He has been in prison for a long time. He told me that since his entry into this jail, he was happy for the first time. When asked about the reason behind his smile, he told me that he was to present Ragini [local folk theatrical performance] on Jail Radio that day,” recalled Dr. Nanda while speaking to The Hindu. Her foundation “Tinka Tinka” has launched this ‘Jail Radio’ project in Haryana jails in collaboration with the State government.
“This is what we want,” emphasised Dr. Nanda, referring to the conversation with the elderly convict. Though Dr. Nanda’s journey as a prison reformer started around a decade ago when she launched “Tinka Tinka” in 2013 to “contribute to society in a serious manner”, her association with Haryana jails is just two years old.
“I was working on a book on prison radio in 2019 when I approached the Haryana government. It was quite surprising that Tihar [Jail] had it, but Delhi’s next-door neighbour didn’t. This is how it started, and we divided our work for Jail Radio into phases,” said Dr. Nanda, Head of Journalism Department, Lady Shri Ram College.
In the first phase, three prisons in Haryana — Panipat and Faridabad district jails and Ambala Central Jail — were taken up for the project and ‘Jail Radio’ was set up. Panipat was the first to get it on January 16 this year. It was followed by setting up of a ‘Jail Radio’ in Faridabad on January 28 and in Ambala on March 8. “It is an in-house production run by the inmates. The programmes are broadcast from a studio inside the premises and reach to the inmates through speakers in the barracks. We mostly play Bollywood songs but also encourage them to present their own programmes such as playing musical instruments or presenting raginis,” said Devi Dyal, Superintendent, Panipat Jail. In the second phase, the project will be launched in four more jails and the preparations for it are almost done
Important aspect
Dr. Nanda said the most important aspect of the project was that “it is for the inmates”. “No commercial interest, no outside intervention, no ads, and no commercial breaks,” she remarked. Dr. Nanda said the aim was to bring out the inmates’ creativity, give them meaningful engagement. “These inmates would go back to society one day. It is, therefore, important that they are given a meaningful intervention. Many of these repent and regret what happened in the past. They need healing,” she said.
The prisons were looked at from the point of view of punishment, said Dr. Nanda, adding that she was working on her own “Tinka Model” of prisons looking at them from the human side. “How human resources can be best utilised? This is how my model of prisons is being designed,” said Dr. Nanda, author of three books on the subject. In the first phase, 21 inmates, including five women, were shortlisted from among 70 to be deployed as “radio jockeys”.
In the second phase, 26 inmates, including a transgender, have been trained.
“We were looking for people who were interested, wanted to bring a change and had energy and passion didn’t want anybody to come with a baggage,” said Dr. Nanda. In just six days, these inmates were trained to take up their new roles.
Mr. Dyal said the “Jail Radio” was now a big hit and he was getting a lot of requests from the inmates to be the “Radio Jockeys”. In Panipat Jail, the “Tinka Tinka” foundation has also set up a library adjoining the studio. Director General of Prisons, Haryana, K. Selvaraj, said the project was received well and the government planned to extend it to all 19 jails in the State, except Palwal and Rewari, which may be taken up later.
“The project is very useful in these times when we have to create awareness among the inmates. It also has an entertainment quotient. We plan to take up five jails each in the next two phases,” said Mr. Selvaraj.
With plans to take the project beyond Haryana to jails across the country, Dr. Nanda reflected that she always wanted to prove that if you do something with a pure heart, you always succeed, but she never expected huge support for her endeavour and this was its “ biggest beauty”.
