Job mela for jail birds

​Mahbubnagar: A job mela for jail birds, the first-ever such mela in the state’s history, was held at the district jail here on Saturday to commemorate its 125th anniversary.

Nine companies have come forward to place prisoners -- remand as well as the past. The mela which was inaugurated by the district judge attracted overwhelming response from those who served sentence.

The jail authorities, who had earlier placed the jailed in a petrol pump on the jail premises, went one step ahead and arranged the mela for the benefit of over 250 inmates of the jail. It seeks to absorb them in the field of their choice.

As and when the court grants them bail, they join job. About nine companies have come forward to recruit 125 prisoners who are either out on bail or through with their jail term.

According to the jail superintendent, Dasaradharami Reddy, the mela’s objective is to prevent their relapse into crime. Of the 250, about 100 inmates are educated.

Venkataiah, a convict in a murder case, belonging to Dokur village of Devarakadra mandal said that he served a part of the sentence at the jail here before he was shifted to and was later shifted to the prison at Charlapalli.

He completed the jail term on January 1 and took part in the mela on coming to know about it from the jail superintendent. Satyayya of Bhuthpur mandal who was sentenced in an excise case said that he got a phone call from the superintendent when he was at the crossroads not knowing what to do upon completing the jail term.

He said that he was happy with arrangements made by jail authorities to place the prisoners in jobs.

A jail staffer Chandu Naik said that the mela would boost prisoners’ morale who hitherto have been maintaining a low profile in society. He said that the placement through the mela would assure a bright future for them.

By: V Narenderchary