PATIALA – That all women want to look beautiful is no secret and murder convict 42-year-old Ranjeet Kaur (name changed) is no exception. She rushes to the newly opened beauty parlour behind the high-security walls of the Central Jail here on special occasions and whenever her relatives come to meet her.
Twenty-eight-year-oldSunita (name changed) gets regular facial and spa, eyebrows shaped and nails painted, all for a little more than Rs 200.
As part of an initiative to help jail inmates eke out a living, tailoring and beautician courses have been started for women prisoners under a pilot project at the Central Jail here.
The project is a brainchild of Additional DGP (Prisons) Rajpal Meena. All district jails will soon have a beauty parlour for women inmates where they can groom themselves and simultaneously get training to earn livelihood when released from jail.
Ranjeet Kaur, an inmate, said: “I am undergoing imprisonment for murdering my husband. I had lost the reason to live. But now, I think I must take care of myself as I have many more years ahead of me. I am getting training to become a professional beautician.”
Additional Superintendent Rajan Kapoor said: “We have converted a barrack into a beauty parlour. Trainers from the ITI, Patiala, and members of an NGO come here to train jail inmates. The idea is to give them an opportunity to earn a livelihood.”
Meena says the concept will be replicated in all jails across the state. “The aim is to help women prisoners look good and ensure that they are busy with something constructive,” Meena says.
Several jails in Faridkot, Patiala and Ludhiana have already started tailoring, towel making and bakery courses for inmates.
