An inmate of Lucknow Model Jail, Vinay Singh runs a Public Call office at the Jail Road in Lucknow. He is also the sole breadwinner of his family — wife Archana and their two children — and his daily earning is around Rs 150.

Vinay is not alone. There are many other prisoners at the Lucknow Model Jail who support their families with their earnings. Some run shops, others work in the Indian Institute of Sugarcane Research (IISR) fields as daily wage labourers.

But with the state government’s order to shift the jail and Nari Bandi Niketan to a deserted location in Mohanlalganj, 20 kms from the main city, their livelihoods are at stake. The jail is being shifted to spare the 88 acres of land, on which the government wants to build an eco park.

The new jail complex is coming up fast and the process of shifting began on Monday, with four loaded trucks being shifted to a new building.

The new jail may boast of many facilities. But it has no market for the goods and services provided by the inmates. The area is cut off and has no one living around for at least 5 km. The current location of the model jail is near the Charbagh Ashiana Colony, Alambagh and Cantonment. And people passing through the area often stop for a cup of tea or to buy the wares sold by the inmates.

Of the money they earn daily, the prisoners deposit Rs 6.50 for their meals and 15 per cent is deposited in the account of their victim’s family.

... contd.