Close on the heels of the Telangana Prisons Department conducting a sale of products made by jail inmates on the Museum premises here, the Kerala Prisons and Correctional Facilities on Tuesday kicked off a two-day exhibition-cum-sale of products made by inmates of prisons at the same venue.
This is the first time that such an exhibition is being held outside the jail compound. Products made by inmates of the Central Prison, Poojappura; Women’s Jail, Attakulangara; Open Prison, Nettukaltheri; Women’s Open Prison, Poojappura; and Special Sub-jail, Poojappura; will be available for sale on the Museum premises from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.on Wednesday.
Products
The products include curios, bedsheets, towels, mattresses, pillows, durries, footmat, soap, detergent, cleaning lotion, umbrella, butcher’s knife, chapatti rolling board and pin, and ‘nettipattom’ and ‘thidambu.’
A wide range of snacks and sweets such as gulab jamun, avalose podi, kesari, vada, chammanthi podi, neyyappam, modakam, achappam, murukku, kuzhalappam, besides vegetables such as muringa leaves, colocasia (chembu) stem, papaya, nendran kaya, and kappa banana are available.
Apparel produced under the ‘Free Fashionista’ line brought out by inmates of the Central Prison such as shirts, women’s tops, and salwar sets are also for sale.
Director General of Prisons and Correctional Services R. Sreelekha, who inaugurated the exhibition, said though such sales were held on the prison premises before, lack of suitable space outside had prevented them from taking it beyond the jail walls.
It was after the Telengana Prisons Department sought a public space for their expo and the Department of Museums and Zoo agreed to provide it free of cost did the State prison authorities consider conducting their sale at the same venue.
“If we find that our products at the stall on the Museum campus have acceptability, then we can launch outlets anywhere.”
She said the Fashionista apparel range was crafted by hand on looms inside the prison and was very reasonably priced. More products would be introduced at the expo on Wednesday.
Rent, a hurdle
Ms. Sreelekha said rent was a hurdle in launching a permanent sales outlet of the department outside the prison.
Plans were on to liaise with the authorities concerned to start kiosks for the prison products at the airport and railway stations.
The department was also considering using thrown-away wood to craft corporate gifts and manufacture paper bags, besides launching a bakery unit. It had already started manufacturing wooden toys as a replacement for plastic ones, she said.
The sale on the Museum premises will conclude on Wednesday.
