Illiterate once, Ajmer jail inmates now write letters to their families

Ajmer: Illiterate jailbirds in Ajmer Central Jail are now writing letters to their families and sharing their feelings with their loved ones, often expressing guilt for the crimes that brought them behind the bars.As many as 163 prisoners in the jail have now turned literate, and 62 of them have started studying. Postcards are made available to prisoners to write regularly to their families and share their feelings with them.“We are educating prisoners and making them realize how education plays an important role in everyone’s life. The literacy programme started in jails by DGP (jails) Bhupendra Kumar Dak is yielding good results. In this jail, wight prisoners have passed their diploma in computers and programming run by an ITI. Mahindra Jain stood first with 84 percent marks, and Mukesh Singh Rawat stood second with 82 percent marks,” said Ajmer Central Jail superintendent Suman Maliwal.As many as 216 prisoners of the jail have joined different courses of Indra Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU). Some of them have enrolled for certificate courses in food and nutrition, and for BA and MA courses.“Many prisoners who came to this jail were illiterate, but now they are reading newspapers and magazines,” said Maliwal, adding that they are being encouraged to write letters to their families and loved ones on postcards made available to them.The inmates say their family members are waiting for them to complete their sentence and return home. “Ensuring that illiterate prisoners return home as educated people is the motto of this social reform programme in jails,” said Maliwal, who was earlier honoured by IGNOU for her efforts at state level.