After freedom brand food, music band, and radio station, a fuel pump will now function at the Viyyur Central Jail.
Speaking after laying the foundation stone for the pump on Saturday, Agriculture Minister V.S. Sunil Kumar said it will be the biggest pump in the district.
Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) is going to set up the pump.
In three months
“It will be the first such initiative in the country itself. A cafeteria, resting room, toilets, and stationery shops also will come up near the pump. The work will be completed in three months, the Minister said.
The pump will come in 0.1255 hectare area attached to the Viyyur Central Jail and Correctional Home on the Thrissur -Shoranur State Highway. The Jail Department will have the dealership of the IOC pump. Selected inmates of the jail, with good behaviour, will be employed as workers in the pump.
Mayor Ajitha Vijayan presided over the function. Director General of Police, Jail, Rishiraj Singh, Deputy Collector M.B. Gireesh Kumar, and others participated.
Kerala is in the number one position in the case of jail development, Mr. Rishiraj Singh said.
Library opened
He was speaking after inaugurating a library contributed by T.N. Prathapan, MP, to the Viyyur jail on Saturday.
“Irrespective of the status of convicts or remand prisoners, all are getting vocational training at prisons. Kerala must be the only State that sold products worth ₹35 crore from the jail. The inmates get parole in 60 days in the State,” he noted.
T.N. Prathapan, MP, has donated around 2,000 books to the prison.
Books, not bouquets
After taking charge as MP, Mr. Prathapan had requested those who invited him for functions to give him books instead of bouquets. He donated the books he thus received. He also donated shelves and reading tables.
Kerala Sahitya Akademi president Vaisakhan and writers K. Venu and Balachandran Vadakkedath were present.
An organic vegetable garden will be set up in 3.5 acres of land attached to the Viyyur Central Jail soon. The Agriculture Minister inaugurated the project.
