Amid the shortage of masks in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic, inmates of the correctional homes
in West Bengal have taken up the task of making masks for more
than 25,000 fellow prisoners in state prisons, an official
said. Eight correctional homes across the state have been
earmarked where a section of prisoners are working to make
masks for more than 25,000 inmates spread across 60 prisons
across the state, the official of the state Correctional
Services Department said.
Presidency, Dum Dum, Midnapore, Jalpaiguri, Burdwan
and three other correctional homes have been earmarked for
making masks, the official said. “The number of masks that have been manufactured would
be distributed across all the prisons within this week, so
that all the inmates can have a mask. We have a regular supply
of raw material for making masks. After delivery of mask to
the prisoners is over, we will take orders from outside for
common people,” he said.
There are around 60 correctional homes in West Bengal,
housing nearly 25,000 inmates. Of them 7,000 are convicts.
Earlier this week, the Correctional Services
department has prepared a list of 3,000 inmates who were
eligible for parole and bail, in keeping with a Calcutta High
Court order that sought to decongest jails amid the growing
COVID-19 threat.
The court had last week formed a three-member panel to
examine the situation in all correctional homes of West Bengal
and prepare a report on the number of inmates who could be
granted bail or parole to avoid crowding in prisons.
According to officials of the Correctional Services
department, of the 3,000 inmates listed for relief, 2,000 are
undertrial prisoners and 1,000 convicts.
