Prison sari on sale at Mantralaya

NASHIK: Paithani saris and other products made at the Nashik Road Central Prison will be showcased at the Diwali Mela in Maharashtra government's state secretariat (Mantralaya) in Mumbai from Thursday.
While the Diwali Mela of the Nashik Road Central Prison has become popular in the city over the past couple of years, the jail authorities have decicded to take the annual exhibition to Mantralaya as well.The exhibition and sale of items prepared in the Nashik prison will be held at Mantralay from October 13 to October 16, wherein a range of items including the Paithani saris will be put on sale.
Superintendent of Nashik Road Central Prison Ramesh Kamble said, "The aim of putting a stall at Mantralaya is to take the products of Nasik prison outside the city. The response at the annual Diwali Mela has always been overwhelming in Nashik. Taking into account the appeal of the jail products, we are organising the Mela in Mumbai."
A range of products such as cotton clothes, footwear, keychains, wooden house-hold temples, carpets, chairs, stools, diyas will be put on sale from Thursday to Sunday. Officials said they also have prepared utna, a perfumed mixture of powdered Ayurvedic herbs, for sale. The usual flower pots, chair mats, stand of footwear, soaps, phenyl, wooden teapoys, towels, etc will also be available.
Officials said all the items put on sale were durable and made from the original material. They added that the priority of the jail authorities was not to make profit but to showcase the various products the inmates have been making inside the premises.
With roughly 3,000 inmates inside the jail, most of them are involved in some or the other work. The aim of the jail is to provide training to the inmates in different skills so that once they step out of prison, they can either find jobs based on the education and experience of making articles inside the jail or start their own business.
The jail officials said all the raw material used for preparing different articles were genuine as the aim of the jail administration was not to compete with other brands in the market, but give work to the inmates.
Officials added the Diwali Mela outside the prison premises in Nashik Road is generally held for two weeks, during which, goods worth over Rs 2 lakh are sold. They said that though the shop of jail products was open round the year, the attempt was to introduce new articles during the festive period.
The Inmates in the jail carry out works related to weaving carpets, carpentry, preparing chemicals for spas, phenyl, bakery products, tailoring, etc. Those who are facing sentence for over a year are given such works, after providing them with three months of training, followed by three-month work of an assistance to a skilled worker inside the jail.
Subsequently, such inmates are given the job independently. Those serving a sentence of less than a year are given work of farming, nurturing plants, etc.