Tihar inmates to work in car parts manufacturing unit inside jail

New Delhi: For the first time in the country, a jail will cater to the production unit of India’s leading car makers under a public-private partnership, providing training and better employment opportunities to the inmates. The Director General of Delhi Prisons Alok Verma on Friday inaugurated the small scale automotive workshop in jail number two of Delhi’s Tihar Jail here. “The inmates will profit in both long term and short term working here. They’ll be paid wages and will gain special work experience which will be very useful for them to rehabilitate themselves after completing their terms here,” Delhi Prisons DIG and PRO Mukesh Prasad told PTI. The manufacturing unit has been set up by Minda Furukawa Electric Pvt Ltd (MFE), a joint venture company between, Spark Minda, Ashok Minda Group of India and Furukawa of Japan. In this manufacturing unit, wire harness product, a key automotive component, will be manufactured by the convicts and will be supplied to the company’s key customer, Maruti Suzuki India Limited, according to an MoU signed between MFE and Tihar Jail authorities on March 30. [caption id=“attachment_1700647” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Inmates work inside Tihar Jail. Representational image. Agencies.[/caption] The inmates working in the unit will be supervised by technical professionals from MFE and will earn more wages in comparison to other inmates working in the jail. “We are hopeful of making the inmates able to earn their living once they are out of jail by gaining technical experience. It will be helpful for them in finding better employment in future. We want to send a good message to the society,” Prasad said. The venture was inaugurated in the presence of Delhi Prisons DG, DIG, Chairperson of Spark Munda, Sarika Minda, President of MFE, A Maenishi and other senior officials. Chief Marketing Officer of the Spark Minda Group, N K Taneja said, “This initiative will certainly produce a sustainable collaborative social business model, which will benefit the convicts of Tihar Jail, their families and victims also. We are certainly exploring such avenues at other places also”. “The investments at Tihar includes machinery, raw material and other quality systems and procedures as laid down per policy and the facility will be run by jail convicts under the supervision of MFE. In this manufacturing unit, wire harness product, a key automotive component, will be manufactured by the jail convicts,” he said. Delhi Prisons DIG said, initially 30 to 35 inmates are working on this joint project which is likely to be increased in future. “As a next step, the Tihar Jail authorities have agreed to facilitate a bigger area for production inside their premises once the production will reach to its full capacity and bigger wire harnesses will come into production,” Taneja said. MFE will also give 10 per cent towards Tihar’s baking school on total wages, besides paying electric charges on actual usage bases. A shed measuring around 100x30 feet have been provided to MFE after converting it as dust proof along with other required facilities. They will also be paying a monthly rent of Rs 10 per square feet for the use of shed provided to them. Further it has also been agreed that rent shall be increased by 10 per cent every year. Prasad said the Director General (Prisons) has appreciated the effort and hoped that this joint venture will bring short term and long term benefits for the inmates. PTI