The Nayagarh sub-jail in Odisha is present in a particularly barren terrain, that is geographically hilly. As part of a psychological uplift program, the prison inmates there have converted this land into a vegetable garden. They grow vegetables like brinjal, turmeric, onion, and spinach. These vegetables are then sold in the local market.
This jail has filled one lakh rupees into the government’s coffers as a result of this garden in the last year, from the revenue obtained by selling the vegetables.
Speaking about this, Umesh Chandra Balbantaray, a jail authority who was appointed at the jail over a year ago said, “For us, it’s not really about the revenue. I’m just happy that convicts are engaged in productive activity. Each person here has an individual savings account and their earnings are gathered in their passbooks, which greatly benefits their families too”. He added that, upon being released, they would be leaving the jail with the capability of earning for themselves, and said that this instills confidence in them.
Notably, Balbantaray was one of the frontmen of the initiative, as this was started as a result of observing a massive drop in morale in the prison inmates.