By Kshitiz Siwakoti, Kathmandu, Mar. 16:  Ramesh Tamang is a prisoner at the Central Jail in Sundhara. He was sentenced to ten years in prison for the consumption of drugs. He used to work as a driver in Kathamndu and is from Nuwakot. Tamang has already served seven years of his sentence. Ten years in confinement would make anyone miserable and more so if one had no way to be productive. 

The Central Jail houses a Central Jail factory where cotton thread is woven into fabrics, sarees, towels, handkerchiefs, bed sheets and gowns used by hospitals. Tamang is one of the workers in the factory. He is responsible for measuring the quantity of the fabric as well as segregating the good fabric from the faulty ones. “I earn a meagre 27 rupees a day for my work and with that, I manage to buy the essential toiletries I need. More than money the incentive for us to work is that we receive a 20 per cent off on our prison sentence if we work for a year.” said Tamang.  

Madan Bahadur Karki is another inmate who was sentenced to seven years in prison for misusing a bank loan. He weaves fabrics of cotton on a mechanical loom. “I earn around 500 - 1000 rupees a month, but it mostly depends on the demand,” Karki said. 

Keshav Shrestha is another prisoner who was sentenced to eleven years in prison for woman trafficking. He has spent seven years of his sentence in prison. He was previously in Kavre district jail and was later transferred to the Central Jail. “I work for the sales division in the factory. I earn just enough to have snacks every day. My previous jail in Kavre never had such a factory,” Shrestha said. 

Established in 1960 by the former Prime Minister Bisheswar Prasad Koirala, the factory was set up with an aim of increasing productivity and disciplining its inmates while also teaching them a valuable skill. The prisoners work between 10 am to 5 pm.

The Chief of Office Ram Hari Dhungel said, “The biggest incentive for a prisoner to work is that they get 20 per cent off on their sentence if they work for a year. The prisoners get an off on Saturdays and public holidays.” However, Ramesh Tamang says that, since it is not possible for all inmates to be present every day so in practice, inmates mostly only get one and a half months reduction.

Every year the skill of weaving cotton fabrics and various other commodities is imparted to 35 selected inmates. Very often than not the ones selected have long prison sentences. 35 people are taught between July-August to December-January and 15 others are taught between January-February to June-July. 

The chief of office, Dhungel says that they could have trained more inmates but the factory is understaffed. “If we had more government employees opting to work for the Central Jail Factory we could have trained more inmates to work, but not many people choose to work here,” Dhungel said.

The factory houses 74 machines that aid its workers in producing cotton fabrics, bedsheets, sarees and towels of various colours and designs. The factory employs around 150-200 inmates to work. However, according to Dhungel the mechanisation of the factory has led him to face a dilemma, “On the one hand it is the machines that help us reach the lofty demands set by the hospitals but on the other hand a single machine takes away the work of many. This leaves many workers idle and defeats the very purpose of increasing their productivity,” Dhungel added. 

The primary customers of the Central Jail factory are Bir Hospital and National Trauma Centre that mostly purchase bed sheets and gowns required by both patients and surgeons. Nepal Airlines Corporation also purchases cotton cloth that is mostly used to clean their aircraft. The cotton saree produced by the factory has found fond customers in Jumla district in Karnali province where various business people buy around 200 of it in one transaction.

A shop has been set up in Tripureshwor within the premises of the Department of Industry that mostly sells various cotton fabrics, handkerchiefs, towels and handmade bamboo stools.

Malti Giri the person that runs the shop says that the most popular products that people buy range from cotton checkered fabric that is stitched into shirts, handkerchiefs, fabric for Daura Surwal etc. The main attraction of the shop is that the goods sold there are comparatively cheaper as compared to the market.    

The money generated in the previous year is deposited in the Capital Mobilisation Fund which is used to buy the raw materials and other requirements the following year. For the fiscal year 2076, the mobilisation fund had spent all of 800,000 rupees and for that year they earned a total of 900,000 rupees. “Our target for this year was to earn Rs. 1.2 million but due to the pandemic I don’t think we will reach the target,” Dhungel added. 

Unfortunately, the factory only employs men even though the prison accommodates female prisoners as well. 

Overall, the Central Jail Factory is a great initiative that enables prisoners to contribute positively to the economy while also enabling them with a skill that requires dedication and discipline.