TUCS zeroes in on Puzhal prison for sourcing organic vegetables

Request to be considered after expanding area under cultivation

Turning a new leaf: Prisoners working on the farm at Puzhal Central Prison in Chennai on Sunday. Photo: B. Jothi Ramalingam

For the past few months, officials of the Triplicane Urban Co-operative Society (TUCS) visited several farms in the State in search of organic vegetables. Eventually the search led them to Puzhal Central Prison.

At the facility, 20 km from here, more than 25 prisoners are involved in cultivating different types of greens, tomatoes, beans, lady's finger, radish, brinjal, pumpkin, drumstick, green chillies, bitter gourd and onion and other vegetables on five acres within the premises.

After hearing their success story, Food Secretary M.P. Nirmala asked TUCS Joint Registrar/Special Officer R.G. Sakthi Saravanan to ascertain whether the departmental store could source organic vegetables from Puzhal.

TUCS sells fruits and vegetables to the public through select outlets.

Talking to The Hindu , authorities of the Puzhal jail said that currently whatever was produced was meant for internal consumption and they were in the process of expanding the area under cultivation from six acres to 15 acres within two months. Supplies to TUCS would be considered only after that.

The vegetable cultivation was initiated by the then Director-General of Police R. Natraj during 2009. It gained momentum last year when the cultivation yielded Rs.5 lakh against Rs.61,000 the previous year. The produce is sufficient to meet the needs of 2,000 inmates and staff of the jail. Besides, it is also supplies vegetables to Saidapet and Ponneri sub-jails.

“We are planning to make use of the 10 acres in front of the campus. We might take the help of a few more prisoners who are interested in farming,” the official said.

Mr. Saravanan said: “We are always interested in buying organic fruits and vegetables irrespective of the place of produce. On hearing that Puzhal officials were ready to sell their produce after meeting their internal demands, we jumped at the offer. Everyday, we can purchase vegetables costing up to Rs.10,000 and will increase it after seeing the response from the public.

TUCS has been supplying Rs.40 lakh worth of provisions to Puzhal on monthly basis.”