5 measures for prison employment programme

Following Caldwell (1956:606), the five measures may be outlined for prison employment programme:

1. Diversification of work:

Making penal institutions self-supporting is neither feasible nor desirable. The system of assigning age-old works like niwar-making or durries-making is also to be discouraged.

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The keynote of modern prison employment programme must be diversification which will not only provide an opportunity for meeting the individual needs of prisoners but will also prevent intense competition with private industry.

The employment programmes have also to vary in accordance with the available raw materials in the region, the size and the nature of the institution (viz., central or district prison), types of prisoners, availability of trainers, potential markets, and such other considerations.

2. Emphasis on state use system of employment:

The state account system lends itself not only to competition but also too many abuses. Consequently, while this system may not be totally abolished, it should be used only in a limited way.

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The state use system has to be supported more vigorously. With the active cooperation of government and semi-government institutions, this system can provide a well-balanced prison employment programme.

3. Assigning work on the basis of the social background of prisoners:

Employment to prisoners should be carefully assigned on the basis of age, education, abilities, training needs, term of imprisonment, nature of crime and trustworthiness. Individual interests can be ascertained by keeping the newly-admitted offenders in the reception centres for a few weeks. The prisoners may then be classified in terms of being assignable to industrial work, agricultural work, public works, and trade work and so on.

4. Introducing wage system:

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Prisoners will not work with efficiency without a wage or some other incentive. The wage system may, therefore, be introduced in prisons keeping in mind that food, clothing, etc. are to be provided by the prison administration free. If a daily wage earner can earn Rs. 40 to Rs. 50, a working prisoner can be given Rs. 10 to Rs. 15 per day depending upon the nature of work in which he is engaged.

The spare time in the evening can be utilised for imparting education to illiterates, giving educational facilities to those who are interested in taking examinations and getting degrees, or for increasing the skills and abilities of prisoners and for improving their attitude towards their work. The educational programme should be carefully coordinated with the wage scheme.

5. Appointing trained staff:

The employment programme should be organised, staffed and equipped in accordance with the highest standards. Prison industries must be provided with an adequate number of fully qualified persons who can handle the technical problems of training, production, and quality maintenance.

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We also believe that creating a Bureau of Prison Industries in each state will be very helpful. At present, different government official and semi-government agencies in a state do not know what things are being manufactured in different jails and how they can be useful to them. If such a bureau comes into existence, all orders from different departments will be directed to this Bureau located at a central place.

The bureau will receive manufactured goods from all prisons in the state and supply them to the departments concerned. The bureau will also suggest introduction of new training programmes in jails useful for manufacturing essential goods or for providing necessary services in specific fields.

If a policy is framed that at least half of the prison population will be given industr assignments, and if the practices of outside industries are emulated in as many aspects as possible, the bureau can create a wide market for the goods manufactured in prisons and also compete with private business.

The goal of the bureau will be not only to turn out jail products that compare favourably in quality with those made by private interests but also to teach prisoners to work under conditions which provide a real transfer value to civilian life.