Women inmates to take part in Tihar campus recruitment drive

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For the first time, women inmates of Tihar Prisons will get a chance to participate in a recruitment drive on jail premises involving companies from hospitality and construction sectors to help rehabilitate prisoners after their release.

"It is the third such exercise. In the earlier two campus placements conducted this year, 95 inmates were absorbed in different companies," Deputy Inspector General, R N Sharma said.

Of the 80 inmates, 10 women prisoners will be appearing in the campus placement at Jail No. 3 tomorrow.

Among the companies participating in the drive are Hotel Rockland, Tourism Management Institute, UNIBILD Engineering and Construction Company Pvt Ltd, Millennium Builders, Aggrawal Packers and Movers, Predo Security and Vedanta Foundation.

"This campus placement will be conducted in Jail Number 3. All eligible inmates from different jails have been shortlisted and groomed by proper professionals. Most of the inmates are convicts and some undertrials," Sharma said.

According to annual survey report of 2011, of the 2,751 convicts lodged inside the Tihar jail in 2010 for various crimes, 46.15 per cent are women inmates who have been convicted for murder charges as against the male count of 33.47 per cent. Female inmates also top the chart in kidnapping and abduction cases, dowry death cases and Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances cases, the report said.

Sunil Gupta, spokesperson and law officer Tihar Prisons, said the success of the first two drives conducted this year have encouraged different companies to hire inmates.

The campus selection drive at Tihar is considered the brain child of Superintendent of Jail No 3, M K Dwivedi, who said, "We realised that the criminal background of an inmate worked against him while searching for a job.

"So reforming prisoners and making them professionally qualified was not enough. This job placement will help prevent them from committing crimes in the future." The shortlisted candidates for the campus placement have to satisfied the criteria that their sentence or judicial custody is likely to come to an end within one year or six months' time, he added. The first recruitment drive was conducted on February 25 where 46 inmates were absorbed in different capacities in various organisations.

Many other companies approached the jail authorities and they were compelled to conduct the second job placement on July 27 in which over 50 inmates had participated. "This job placement initiative by Tihar Prisons is the best gift that Tihar Prisons can offer to its inmates. I was selected by a renowned company in the first campus placement. My good performance earned me another job in a software company with a hike in pay package and position too.

I doubt I would be this successful if I had to fend on my own after release," said an inmate who was recruited in the first campus placement of Tihar Prisons conducted on February 25. Tourism Management Institute Managing director, Surender Kumar said he was impressed by the inmates "passion for work". "We took part in the placement as part of our responsibility towards the society.

Many are first time offenders and we believe when they say they will improve." Gupta said such campus placements encourge the inmates to join the mainstream.