Photo essay: How Kerala is mobilising prisoners to produce masks, sanitisers, go...

The Kerala police, led by Rishi Raj Singh, the state's director general of prisons and correctional services, is counting on prisoners to produce face masks, hand sanitisers and hospital gowns

Apr 28, 2020, 11:36 IST1 min

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The mask making unit of Attakulangara women’s jail

Image by R Ravi

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About 1,000 of those, priced at Rs 10 each, are sold every day at the cafeteria of Poojappura central jail in Thiruvananthapuram

Image by R Ravi

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The Kerala State Electricity Board has ordered 50,000 masks for its employees in 14 districts

Image by R Ravi

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Sree Chitra hospital in Thiruvananthapuram has ordered 500 gowns from Poojappura’s gown-making unit

Image by R Ravi

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500 litres of hand sanitisers are produced daily, and sold at Rs 50 for 100 ml. Hand sanitisers are prepared under the guidance of chemistry professors from colleges across the state, adh...

Image by R Ravi

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Under the initiative ‘Food for Freedom’, 3 lakh chappatis are rolled and baked in the prison kitchens

Image by R Ravi

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550 kg of chicken is cooked in the prison kitchens per day on average

Image by R Ravi

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The meals are then packed and sold near hospitals and main junctions across 10 cities. While there is an extensive menu, the cheapest among them, chicken curry and chappatis, comes for Rs 3...

Image by R Ravi

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Organic vegetables are maintained and cultivated inside the jail premises by the inmates

Image by R Ravi

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The organic farms at the jails cumulatively produce 300 kg of vegetables every day

Image by R Ravi

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The surplus vegetables are sold at prison canteen counters at a discounted rate

Image by R Ravi

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Some of the vegetables grown include red bananas. rich in beta carotene and vitamin C, harvested in Poojapura central jail