Gujarat: Vadodara Central Jail inmates launch radio station
Ahmedabad, Mar 3: Inmates of the Vadodara Central Jail on Wednesday launched their own radio station, in an initiative aimed at rehabilitation and reformation of prisoners and to help them express their creative side, officials said.
Around 1,500 prisoners are lodged in the jail and a few of them will be trained to become radio jockeys as part of this internal 'Radio Prison' service, they said.
This is the fourth prison in Gujarat to launch such a radio service.
Authorities have set up a studio within the jail premises and over 60 speakers are installed across different barracks for prisoners to listen to the radio service, Vadodara Central Jail's prisoner welfare officer Mahesh Rathod told PTI.
"The main advantage of this service is that we shall be able to educate and spread awareness about various issues among the prisoners in a better way," he said.
Gujarat's Inspector General of Prisons K L N Rao launched the service at the central jail here on Wednesday and said it will serve as a multi-level infotainment (information and entertainment) platform for jail inmates.
"Prisoners can also explore the platform to express themselves creatively through story-telling. They will receive health bulletins and information about various legal aspects concerning them from guest speakers," Rao said.
A few of them will also be trained as radio jockeys, Rathod said.
The Ahmedabad Central Jail was the first to start such a radio service on October 2 last year, on the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
The service was later also started in Rajkot and Lajpore (Surat) jails.
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Minister Parameshwara says remarks on properties linked to drug peddlers 'misunderstood'
Tumakuru (PTI): Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Saturday said his recent remarks on the demolition of properties linked to those involved in narcotics trade were "misunderstood and misinterpreted".
His clarification follows remarks made two days ago on the government's uncompromising crackdown on the drug menace, including action against properties linked to foreign nationals allegedly involved in drug trafficking.
"It is unfortunate. It is taken in the wrong sense. I didn't mean that tomorrow itself I am going to send bulldozers and demolish the houses. That was not my intention. It was wrongly taken," he told reporters here.
Responding to Congress MLC K Abdul Jabbar's question in the legislative council on the growing drug menace in Bengaluru, Davangere and coastal districts, the minister on Thursday detailed the extensive enforcement measures initiated since the Congress government assumed office.
Pointing to the involvement of some foreign nationals, the minister had said, "Many foreign students from African countries have come to Karnataka. They are into the drug business. We catch them and register cases against them, but they want the case to be registered because once the case is registered, we cannot deport them."
"We have gone to the extent of demolishing the rented building where they stay," he had said.
