Small onions grown by the inmates in the garden at the Trichy jail premises are being harvested and sold for ₹80 per kg. The Trichy Central Jail holds about 1,500 inmates, including convicts, who have been sentenced to life imprisonment. On the basis of number of years in prison they are assigned to work in the gardens, workshops and prison shops on the prison premises.
The proceeds from their work are used for the livelihood of the families of the prisoners involved. Every year vegetables, paddy and sugarcane are grown in the garden of the prison premises. Small onions are cultivated every year. This year, about 500 kgs of small onions cultivated by the prisoners were harvested. These are produced in organic method with natural fertilizers.
Earlier, the DIG of Trichy Jail Prisons visited the small onion harvesting program. Kanagaraj, Prison Superintendent Shankar, Prison Store Superintendent Thirumurugan and many others were present.