Prisoners at the Raipur central jail in Chhattisgarh have scripted a success story, as a petrol pump run by them crossed a monthly turnover of Rs.10 million, a minister said Saturday.

'A petrol pump run and managed by prisoners that was opened in July 2007 as a part of prisoners welfare drive just outside the jail has crossed the monthly turnover of Rs.1 crore (Rs.10 million) with a net monthly profit of Rs.23 lakkh (Rs.2.3 million),' Home Minister Ramvichar Netam told IANS.

He said that 50 percent of the net earnings from the petrol pump would go to the prisoners' welfare works and the rest for the welfare of the jail staff.

Raipur central jail is one of the most crowded jails in the state, where presently about 2,200 inmates have been kept against a capacity of 1,130, officials say.

Netam said that the state government would soon be arranging technical training for prisoners by experts of Industrial Training Institutes (ITI) to make them economically self-reliant and help them adjust in the mainstream of society once they are released.

The ITI team will mainly train them in masonry work, motor winding, television repair, pump repair, motor repair, electrical work, watch repair and laundry work.

The jail department has also planned to set up a motor workshop as well as an industrial shed inside the jail complex to get work orders for skilled prisoners and help them earn money.

The Raipur central jail has a cowshed since October 2006 with 24 cows and with a daily milk production of 105 litres. The shed is managed entirely by prisoners.

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