The Hindu : Prisoners' day out

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Sunday, May 05, 2002

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Prisoners' day out

By Our Staff Reporter

For the first time in the history of Orissa, 34 prisoners visited the Jagannath temple, at Puri..

BHUBANESWAR MAY 4. The temple town of Puri has rarely seen such tourists in the past. Mingling with the usual crowd were 34 prisoners from two different jails of Orissa on a day's outing on Saturday.

Allowed by the jail authorities, the inmates, including 29 convicts and five women undertrials, were ferried first to the Sun temple at Konark and, then, to Puri by a luxury bus of the Orissa Tourism Development Corporation. The daylong trip was organised by the State prison authorities as part of their programme aimed at reforming the convicts and undertrials who had shown good conduct while in judicial custody.

After offering prayers at Lord Jagannath temple in Puri, the prisoners had a meal of `mahaprasad'. They were also taken around the sandy beaches of Puri. The 14 inmates of Choudwar jail and the 15 male prisoners of Bhubaneswar jail are all undergoing life imprisonment.

As part of the reform programme, many inmates of the two jails are being taught yoga and are being provided counselling by voluntary organisations.

According to B.K. Mahapatra, DIG (Prisons), the convicts and undertrials, who showed good conduct, would be finally lodged in the newly constructed open air jail on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar. The new jail building is expected to be ready in a few months time.

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