Kerala prison inmates reap harvest for Onam market

PTI Thiruvananthapura/Kochi: In a radical departure from traditional prison reform, an Open Prison and Correctional Home for males near Thiruvananthapuram is pioneering a bold experiment in rehabilitation. By transforming 472 acres of land into a thriving farm, the facility in Nettukaltheri is not only challenging conventional notions of incarceration but also empowering inmates to become experts in sustainable farming practices.

From cultivating rubber to raising cattle and honeybees, the prisoners are learning valuable skills that will serve them well upon release. As the Onam festival season approaches, the Open Prison is abuzz with excitement. Prisoners are thrilled to be reaping the rewards of their hard work, harvesting the fresh vegetables they grew with care and dedication.

They wear white shirts bearing the numbers allocated to them by the department. All of them are murder case convicts, people who either would have knowingly or accidentally killed someone or multiple people. They are now washing their stained hands with the fertile soil in this land, carefully nurturing and caring for plants, watching them grow and flourish, and finding joy in the process.

“There is something called agricultural therapy. Nurturing a plant and seeing it flower and bear fruit is proven to have a very positive mental transformation in people. We hope this will help them lead a happy and crime-free life when they leave from here,” Rajesh Kumar, superintendent in charge of the open prison, told PTI. There are more than 350 prisoners housed in this open prison and its annexelocated nearby. The prison has rubber plantations as the major cultivation. Prisoners are thrilled to be reaping rewards of their hard work, harvesting fresh vegetables they grew with care and dedication.