UP: Seed farming training for jail inmates

The prisons and agriculture departments have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in this regard on Thursday, he added.

Out of the 13 jails, inmates in nine jails will learn farming. Besides, prisoners in the jails which house cow sheds will learn the process of making vermicompost, Prakash said.

As per plan, state-owned State Seed Development Corporation will impart the training. The central and the district jails where the session will take place are in Allahabad, Varanasi, Bareilly, Fatehgarh, Lucknow, Noida, Rae Bareli, Unnao, Meerut, Agra, Barabanki, Sitapur and Sultanpur.

In the first batch, 10 offenders serving short prison sentences will be selected.

“Training session will continue for 70 days. During this time the prisoners are likely to earn around Rs 15,000,” said Prakash.

The session is likely to start from October-end, Sharad Kulshrestha, additional inspector general, prisons, said.

The corporation will buy back the seeds grown by the inmates and in this way they will get to earn the money, Kulshrestha added.