Over 50 convicts lodged in various Central prisons across the State, who had evinced interest in developing their vocational skills, have been enrolled in the government-run Industrial Training Institute (ITI) functioning inside the Tiruchi Central Prison.
The Prison department’s move will enable them to pursue different vocational courses offered by ITI exclusively for inmates. Besides, around 40 convicts serving lengthy terms at the prison are to be enrolled for the courses during 2018-19.
Nineteen prisoners from Coimbatore Central Prison, 15 from Vellore, 10 from Madurai, 11 from Palayamkottai and one from Puzhal in Chennai had already been shifted, prison authorities here told The Hindu. The remaining are expected in the days to come.
According to a senior prison official, the intake will be 178 this time for various courses, which are of two and one year duration.
The ITI courses offered are fitter (2 years), electrician (2 years), computer operator and programming assistant (1 year), cutting and sewing (1 year) and welder (1 year). Admission has already begun with classes commencing following enrolment of over 95 convicts till now.
The classes will be conducted daily in a separate building in Block-7. A team of ITI faculty has been exclusively posted at the institute to conduct theory and practical sessions.
A NCVT (National Council for Vocation Training) certificate will be issued to each convict upon completion of the course. The enrolled inmates will be paid stipend and study materials free of cost by the Prison department. This is the third year of enrolment of convicts in ITI, which was started in Tiruchi prison in February 2016, said the official.
Among the nine Central Prisons in the State, Tiruchi is the only one to have a full-fledged government-run ITI solely for prisoners in an effort to rehabilitate them once they are freed.