Brahmanbaria: Various programmes, including some income-generating ones, have turned Brahmanbaria district jail into a correction centre for its inmates amid an idyllic setting to get out of their dark past.

One such programme is vegetable farming which has not only brought a remarkable change in the view of the prison compound but also opened up a chance for the prisoners to make a considerable amount of income while remaining behind the bars.

Usually a prison is known as the abode for convicts of different cases but the jail authorities have taken an initiative to change the meaning through providing training on different programmes, especially vegetable cultivation.

The environment inside the jail has undergone a remarkable change due to the vegetable farming.

Convicts in different cases engage in works in the vegetable gardens inside the prison, which helps elevation of both their mental and physical states.

Besides, those released from the jail also work in the gardens on the basis of a certain monthly wage.

Situated on 17 acres of land, the jail has now over 1,000 inmates, including 50 females.

A day-care centre has also been opened in the jail.

For bringing back the convicts to normal life, the Social Service Department has also taken up several other training programmes, including farming, electronics, knitting and hairdressing, in the prison.

Two trainers provide training to the inmates in five working days.

Vegetables, including red spinach, pumpkin, potato, tomato, eggplant, and papaya, are cultivated in the abandoned land of the jail.

Most of the vegetables are used for consumption of the inmates, which helps the authorities save Tk10-12 lakh expenditure a year.

Besides, a substantial amount of money from sale of the vegetable is given to those behind their production.

This income basically acts a source of their inspiration and helps largely to make them self-reliant.

Al Amin, from Banchharampur upazila of Comilla, who was released from the jail, said he had come to the jail in five cases, all of which were false.

Later he took training on farming and worked in gardens.

Despite being freed after acquittal from all the cases, he stayed back in the jail only to continue with the farming activities.

He gets Tk 8,000 wage a month, through which he can meet all his demands well.

Azgar Ali, another prisoner, said, ‘I work in the vegetable garden regularly and the jail authorities give me Tk12,000 per month as wage.’

Alam, another prisoner, said, ‘I also work in the garden in exchange of some money.’

Mansur Ali, another inmate hailing from Narsingdi, said, ‘I send the money I earn from gardening here to my family, which greatly helps its maintenance.

Abdul Barek, jailer of the jail, said different vegetables are grown in the gardens through the prisoners, which saves the prison expenditure considerably.

Most of the vegetables are cooked for the inmates’ consumption.

Jail Super Nurunnabi Bhuiya said the vegetable farming is an initiative to make the prisoners active through works.