Prisoners to be Employed in Petrol pumps in this State

In Kerala, the prisoners will now work as employees in petrol pumps and take home a salary, as the Govt. of Kerala has rolled out Petrol Pumps from Jail premises in association with Indian Oil Corporation.

Speaking to the news agency, Rishiraj Singh, Jail DGP said that initiative to employ jail inmates in petrol pumps was taken as in Kerala there are many projects of which prisoners are a part of & are being employed.

He said that "In petrol pumps, 15 jail inmates will be employed at each pump. The outlets of Thiruvananthapuram, Viyyur & Cheemeni jails have been started to function from today. Many express doubt whether the prisoners will try to escape. But my experience working with them prove otherwise. They are managing five cafeterias in the state & selling food prepared by them. We pay them Rs 220 per day for their work & the jail inmates are running it successfully particularly at COVID-19 times".

The Indian Oil Corporation is investing around Rs 9.5 crore to set up 4 petrol pumps at the jail premises. The share of the jail department is Rs 30 lakh for setting up petroleum outlet. Other than the three presently, it will also be started in Kannur jail.

Rishiraj Singh said that "The land has been leased to the Indian Oil Corporation for 30 years. The prisoners are employed here & for that, they underwent a training in petrol pump of IOC & the uniform will also be supplied by them".

About 25 cents in Thiruvananthapuram, 39 cents in Kannur, 25 cents in Viyur & 25 cents in Cheemeni open jail have been allotted.

Through this, the Govt will get Rs 5.9 lakh per month in rent. It also plans to expand the project in the future by setting up a CNG & electrical charging station. The petrol pumps will be also accompanied by public comfort stations. 

Source Link