Huge yards of enclosures with neat rows of plants appear if a green carpet is rolled out for the visitors who enter the premises. The place is no garden but the premises of a prison! The district jail located near this village is extraordinary as it not just a place of confinement but doubles up as a true rehabilitation centre, where in the inmates are made partners in progress. It premises full of green cover and most modern facilities including steam cooking, a hospital and library. The jail began functioning in 2012.
Apart from other activities this jail has launched a novel initiative of developing a nursery and in the in the last six months the inmates with the guidance from the officials have started the work and they are all set to generate nearly Rs. 10 lakh revenue by selling about 50,000 saplings to Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad (IITH).
The deal will be made with struck with L&T, the construction major, which has taken up the construction buildings on the new premises of the educational institute.
Apart from this they have saved about Rs. 35 lakh for the Jails Department by taking up painting of the entire premises.
When the proposals were sent to a government department to assess the funds required for painting works, the department put the figure at Rs. 40 lakh. But the prisoners were able to complete the work in less than Rs. 5 lakh – the officials quoted the figure about Rs. 3.5 lakh. The painting of the façade has been completed and the work inside the building is still going.
Spread in about 40 acres, the District Jail building was constructed on 10 acres while the remaining area is used for developing green cover. As many as 27 varieties of plants and also flowering plants including Jatropha, Jasminium, Temple tree, Marigold, five varieties of roses, Hibiscus Rosa, Golden Canplam, seven varieties of Merieum are ready for sale at the nursery.
Work related to gardening was taken up by 15 prisoners who have agricultural background from Charlapally who work in semi open environment. Alongside the compound wall about 2,500 teakwood plants are being grown and about 1,200 mango saplings were planted.
“We want to make this area green with trees anf make it environment friendly and the prisoners are doing an excellent job. Having a tank nearby is an added advantage. Five borewells were already sunk and motors will be fixed shortly,” P. Nageswara Reddy, Superintendent, told The Hindu.
