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

The mask making unit of Poojapura central jail. Each tailoring unit has a single tailor. Since most of the prisoners don’t have the skillset, they are trained to stitch in the jail itself

The mask making unit of Attakulangara women’s jail

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

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

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

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, adhering to the norms issued by the drug controller

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

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

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 35 a pop

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

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

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

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