Jorhat Central Jail. Telegraph picture

Jorhat, May 6: They may be confined within the four walls of a prison, but now they will be given the freedom to reach out to the world outside via education.

To keep in pace with the times, prisoners of Jorhat Central Jail will be imparted computer training under a reform and rehabilitation project sponsored by the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA). Under the project, the inmates will also be given vocational training by experts on making products from jute, cane, bamboo and plant fibres, food processing and preservation, preparation of materials from hand-made paper, embroidery and fabric painting.

Jorhat Central Jail, one of the six central jails in the state to celebrate its centenary this year, has the distinction of hosting famous personalities like former president of India Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, satradhikar of Auniati satra of Majuli Pitambar Devagoswami and freedom fighter Kushal Konwar.

Konwar was hanged in the jail on June 19, 1943 by the British on charges of conspiring against the government.

Jail superintendent P.C. Koch told The Telegraph that under the plan initiated to make the inmates ready for self-employment, they will also be given vocational training.

Koch said as there was already a library-cum-school in a ward for the inmates and two graduates as well as under-graduates and matriculates among the prisoners were keen to learn computers.

There are altogether 451 inmates of whom 12 are women and over 50 per cent of the total number are convicts. Jailor Brojen Das said Society for North-East Handmade Paper Development, an NGO, which has been imparting vocational training to self-help groups (SHGs) and has won a national award from the Centre last year for its work, has been assigned by the DRDA to implement the project. Jorhat deputy commissioner R.C. Jain formally launched the project yesterday. He said the NGO would install three computers by next week, to provide basic training to 20 prisoners in the first batch.

Das said at present several inmates were using the typewriter in the office, but once they learn computers, the work will be done faster and save time.

The jail has an educational centre of the K.K. Handique State Open University that functions on weekends. The centre runs special courses for matriculation, plus two and degree-level courses.

DRDA (Jorhat) project director Sanjib Pujari said the agency has initially decided to fund the project for a year by taking the jail as an SHG and will continue the same if the demand exists.

The NGO secretary, Prakash Thakur, said they will engage trainers and will provide the raw materials if the prisoners wished to continue making products after the training.

Thakur said once the basics of computers were taught, short-term professional courses could be imparted to the inmates.

He said various handicraft products made of jute and fibre from bananas and ladies fingers and also from handmade paper had a lot of demand in the market. Similarly, food processing and preservation, too, has a big market in the region.