Rajasthan prisoners to man cow shelters

In an initiative to generate income for jails, the Rajasthan government plans to set up cow shelters inside them.

In an initiative to generate income for jails, the Rajasthan government plans to set up cow shelters inside them.

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Rajendra Singh Rajpurohit, president of the NGO Rajasthan Gau Seva Aayog, told IANS: "We will launch the scheme from Jalore and later it will be expanded in phases all over the state."

"Priority would be given to the jails that have vacant land for the cowsheds," Rajpurohit added.

"We will help in providing land to the jails, which do not have space for cowsheds," he added.

Stray cows would be sent to these jails and each cow shelter would be registered, he said.

With the help of cow dung, gas plants would be run in the jails and these shelters would also help save the expenses of buying milk from outside, he said.

"An inmate who takes regular care of cows will be gifted one when he comes out of the jail so that it becomes a source of income for him," Rajpurohit said.

Meanwhile, work on providing basic education to jail inmates has started to gather pace.

The education in jails programme presently being undertaken as a pilot project in Udaipur, Ajmer and Sri Ganganagar prisons is now being extended all over Rajasthan.

The main aim behind the move is to educate prisoners so that they become law-abiding citizens, education department officials told IANS.

"The education department has decided to provide study materials and teachers free of cost for this purpose," officials said.

The course module would not only give some basic education but also help inmates imbibe basic human qualities.