Hope of a new life, a filling station and 8 hrs of freedom

Ludhiana: At the filling station on Tajpur Road opposite Central Jail, commuters stopping for fuel deal with four employees every day. There is nothing to suggest anything out of the ordinary about them and most do not even register their appearance or names. For the four persons working at the filling station though, this obscurity is a taste of freedom. They are prisoners of Ludhiana Central Jail, Tajpur road but for a few hours every day, they like to forget the cell walls. Here, they don’t have fellow inmates but colleagues. Sukhwinder Lal, 52 of Nawanshahr, Jarnail Singh, 32 of Machhiwara, Jagtar Singh, 55 of Sudhar and Paramjeet Singh, 30 of Dhai Pai village in Ludhiana earned this sliver of freedom with good conduct.
Punjab Prisons Development Board (PPDB) opened the filling station opposite the Ludhiana Central Jail on September 15. It was inaugurated by jails minister Harjot Singh Bains. At present, four jail inmates and four other persons hired by the department work here. Two security personnel have also been deployed.
TOI visited the filling station on Saturday and interacted with the inmates and their co-workers.
Tajinder Singh, a co-worker of the inmates said, “The first thing we had decided is that we would never call them prisoners. They deserve due respect. I would say they are lovely people who shared their life experience with us and asked us to stay calm in every situation, as their violent reaction in certain situations got them here.”
Deputy superintendent at Ludhiana Central Jail, Kanwar Surteg Singh said, “These inmates get Rs 100 per day for working at the filling station of which Rs 75 is deposited in their bank accounts and Rs 25 added into the smart cards used by them in the jail for purchases at the canteen.”
Their stories are about the hope for a new life.
Paramjeet Singh, 30, Dhai Pai village
Paramjeet Singh was a 21-year-old second-year BA student when he and his friends engaged in a scuffle in which a youth died. A case was registered at Jodhan police of Ludhiana rural, following which he was arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment. Paramjeet regrets that fateful moment in which he was drawn into the scuffle and away from what would have been a promising future.
On being asked how it feels like to come out of jail to work, Paramjeet said, “Coming out of jail makes me feel ‘human.’ Here, we are addressed by our names and our identities as prisoners melts into the background, which makes a world of difference. I was in college when I was booked and arrested. I had high hopes for myself but destiny had another plan. I would call these eight working hours the happiest moments as I can forget that I am a prisoner.”
Earlier, Paramjeet worked for former deputy jail superintendent Iqbal Singh Dhaliwal inside the jail. He also used to cook in the jail kitchen.
Sukhwinder Lal, 52
of Nawanshehr
Before working at the filling station, Sukhwinder Lal worked in the biscuit factory unit of Ludhiana Central jail and handled the store. He said that while working at the filling station, he does not even look at the jail, which is right in front of the filling station.
“I have been lodged in jail for about 15 years now and this feeling is completely new. It is like someone getting his first job and sharing the experience with family. When we get back to the jail, fellow inmates ask us about our day. They also want us to recommend their names for the work. I am so glad to be among those who can come out and work” said Sukhwinder.
Lal was arrested in a murder case dating back to 2007 at Banga police station of Nawanshehr. He said he had gone to the house of a friend’s relative, where his friend and the host engaged in a scuffle. The friend’s relative died.
Jarnail Singh, 31,
Macchiwara
A volleyball match and a scuffle was all it took to turn Jarnail Singh’s life upside down. The 19-year-old Class XII student aspired to join the Army but a visit to a wedding ceremony in 2011 sent that dream crashing. He was playing volleyball outside the venue when the youngsters had an altercation in which a person died. A murder case was lodged against a group of youngsters including Jarnail Singh, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in the case.
Inside the jail, he worked in the biscuit factory unit. “Though the jail and filling station are located opposite each other, the distance of a few meters is the distance between what could have been and what is. The sky, the sunlight and everything else are not the same for me inside and outside the jail. The four of us plan to move our files with the government to get our sentence suspended so that we can begin a new life,” said Jarnail Singh.
Jagtar Singh, 55,
Sudhar
From an Army Jawan posted in Kathua, Jammu, Jagtar is now lodged in Ludhiana jail in a murder case. Sharing his story makes his eyes well up. He claims to have been implicated in the case and has moved court. Being the eldest of the filling station employees, he is well respected but that does not numb him to the pain. “Living in a jail from day to night is one thing. Coming back to the jail after spending eight hours outside is quite another. It is very depressing. . I hope our working hours are extended. The kind of treatment and respect we get here makes us feel like humans.”