AMRITSAR

THE welcome note is one of silence. It could almost be a serene college campus. Well, one of the biggest literacy campaigns ever to be launched in jails across the country has almost made Amritsar Central Jail one.

A look at the records says it all: About 300 illiterate inmates here are learning to read and write, another hundred semi-literate prisoners have enrolled for a certificate course in food and nutrition while others have been pursuing preparatory programmes being run by the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU). Another 260 have opted for computers courses.

There is more: One of the inmates is attempting an MBA while several others have enrolled for postgraduate courses.

The picture couldn’t have been more different some months ago—this prison was notorious for drug peddling and gang wars. DIG Jails, Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh, who was one of the first IPS officers in Punjab to be posted as jail superintendent, admits the prison looked ‘‘different’’ when he took over.

‘‘Built to accommodate a thousand people, it housed more than double the number. And the jail staff was too busy squabbling amongst themselves to pay any attention to the inmates,’’ remembers Singh.

Today, the jail is considered a template for others. Singh, who recently got an award from the India Vision Foundation (IVF) founded by Kiran Bedi, for his jail reforms, counts her as his inspiration. ‘‘I wanted to change the character of the prison but it would not have been possible without the guidance of Kiran Bedi, officers in the police department and Dr S P Singh, the then Vice-Chancellor of Guru Nanak Dev University.’’

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