Coimbatore Central Prison is a

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where Prisoner, people are Imprisonment, imprisoned under the authority of the State (polity), state ...

located near

Gandhipuram Gandhipuram is a major place of the Coimbatore city in Tamil Nadu, India. It is named after Mahatma Gandhi. It was previously known as "Katoor". Gandhipuram evolved as the major public transportation hub after the construction of the central bu ...

bus stand in

Coimbatore Coimbatore (Tamil: kōyamputtūr, ), also known as Kovai (), is one of the major Metropolitan cities of India, metropolitan cities in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Noyy ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. The prison was constructed during the

Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency or Madras Province, officially called the Presidency of Fort St. George until 1937, was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India and later the Dominion of India. At its greatest extent, the presidency i ...

year 1872. It is located in an area comprising . The prison is authorized to accommodate 2208 prisoners. The freedom fighter V.O. Chidambaram Pillai was confined in this prison during the freedom struggle from 9 July 1908 to 1 December 1910.

History

The Coimbatore Central Prison was built during the Madras Presidency.

Prison Infrastructure

The open land in the prison is used for agricultural activities by the inmates. The prison also helps inmates to gain knowledge with its library.

Prison initiatives

The prison acts as a rehabilitation center by promoting activities to support inmate reform. Formal classroom education: Classroom education for prison inmates was launched for pursuing their education in the 8th, 10th and 12th grades. The prison supports the initiative with faculty, books and setting aside three hours of each day for classroom teaching. The intention of this initiative is to provide them with education as part of reformation and to enhance their employability when they leave the prison. The initiative was launched during the tenure of DIG of Prisons (Coimbatore Range) P. Govindarajan. Music classes and exams: The prison authorities encourage those with talent and those who volunteer to learn music. Six prisoners were to appear for the

Trinity Music College Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance is a music, dance, and musical theatre conservatoire based in South East London. It was formed in 2005 as a merger of two older institutions – Trinity College of Music and Laban Dance Centre. Trini ...

exams, some after nearly 13 years of training by NGOs. Inmates manning Petrol bunks: 20 prison inmates from the prison would operate two 24 hour petrol pumps on Dr Nanjappa Road and Bharathiyar Road. The inmates would handle operations from cash management to fuel dispensing. This initiative is in partnership with

Hindustan Petroleum Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) is an Indian public sector undertaking in Petroleum industry, petroleum and natural gas industry, headquartered in Mumbai. It is a subsidiary of the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), which ...

. The inmates would be paid daily wages for their effort and this program is meant to aid prisoner reform and help reduce recidivism. Upgrading the Weaving unit: The Prison weaving unit used for rehabilitation of prisoners was upgraded. Four Air-jet loom machines were added to modernise the weaving unit at a cost of Rupees 1.50 crore. The prison has a weaving unit with 109 power looms where 200 convicted prisoners work in two shifts. Prison Bazaar: The Prison Bazaar is a prison program to help inmates sell fabrics and cloths stitched inside the prison to the general public. Also snacks and food items cooked by inmates are sold at reasonable costs.

Prisoner remission

To mark the centenary of former

Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu The chief minister of Tamil Nadu is the head of government, chief executive of the Indian Federated state, state of Tamil Nadu. In accordance with the Constitution of India, the Governor (India), governor is a state's ''de jure'' head, but ''de ...

Dr. M. G. Ramachandran, 49 prisoners including many life convicts, were released from the prison. All of these prisoners had served at least a sentence of ten or more years at the time of release and most of them in jail for murder related convictions. This batch release is as per the norms and authority vested with the

state governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...

under Article 161 of the

Indian constitution The Constitution of India is the supreme legal document of India, and the longest written national constitution in the world. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and ...

.{{Cite news , url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/coimbatore/40-life-convicts-released-from-central-prison/articleshow/65726388.cms , title=40 life convicts released from central prison , date=Sep 8, 2018 , work=The Times of India , access-date=December 18, 2018

References

External links

Tamil Nadu Prison Department
Prisons in Tamil Nadu Buildings and structures in Coimbatore Government buildings completed in 1872 1872 establishments in India