Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Thursday accorded approval to a proposal by the Punjab Prisons Development Board (PPDB) to set up 12 retail outlets of Indian Oil Corporation on land owned by the prisons department.
Chairing the first meeting of the newly-constituted PPDB, Amarinder was informed by the officials that this project, besides giving employment to 400 released prisoners, would generate an expected revenue of Rs 40 lakh per month.
Briefing the chief minister, the board’s Member Secretary and ADGP Prisons, Praveen Sinha, said prisoners with good conduct would be employed at the retail outlets and preference would be given to women prisoners.
The chief minister also granted approval to the brand name, ‘Ujala Punjab’, for all products manufactured by jail inmates, a state government statement said.
Approval was also accorded to the board for taking over all the factories established in jails, existing projects being run in Punjab prisons under PPP mode and commercial activities being done at the open jail in Nabha.
Briefing the chief minister, Sinha said products like bedsheets, towels, mops, furniture, stationery, soaps and sanitizers will be manufactured in prison factories under the board.
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