Several inmates from the Dum Dum and Presidency correctional facilities have been permitted to leave their confinement to participate in an initiative aimed at providing food for pilgrims at the Gangasagar camp in Outram Ghat.
The convicts include four who are serving life sentences. They are working with members of a non-government organisation to serve people cooked food at the camp, which started on January 9.
The idea behind the initiative is to bring them back to the mainstream.
“The best way of transformation is to spread humanity and serve people. We have seen that a lot of positivity has been generated among the inmates with this project,”
said Lakshmi Narayan Meena, the additional director-general of police (correctional
services).
The majority of them have already completed 12 to 14 years of their prison sentences. They were selected due to their exemplary behaviour, stated Debasish Chakraborty, the deputy inspector-general of correctional services.
The inmates include murder convicts, convicts in cases related to possession and sale of psychotropic substances, dacoity with dangerous weapons and torture of women in the family.