From cells to shelves: Telangana prisons turn skills of inmates into enterprise
Telangana prisons are operating successful manufacturing units that produce furniture, cleaning supplies, and textiles. Inmates are employed in these workshops and receive wages based on their skill levels, which are split between personal savings and family support.
Why it matters
This initiative demonstrates a model for prison reform that focuses on vocational training, economic self-sufficiency, and rehabilitation through productive labor.
Steel furniture, hospital beds, classroom benches, wooden tables, soaps, floor cleaners, honey and even products made from discarded tyres and temple flowers are among the goods being produced inside Telangana’s prisons, with the department increasingly turning its workshops into a showcase of quality, affordability and sustainability.
The prison industries currently manufacture a diverse range of products, with steel and carpentry emerging as the most prominent production units. Their output includes classroom benches, hospital beds, office tables, iron cots, double-bunker cots, computer tables, chairs and mobile stands. Director General of Prisons, Soumya Mishra, said government departments, hospitals, courts and educational institutions are among their regular customers, apart from the regular public.
Inmates engaged in manufacturing at the Chanchalguda jail. | Photo Credit: By Arrangement
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