Pune's Yerawada Jail inmates to get sports training soon

Pune, Oct 2 (IANS) The historic Yerawada Central Jail (YCJ) here will soon impart training in indoor and outdoor sports to its inmates as part of a national public-private initiative, 'Parivartan - Prison to Pride', officials said here on Saturday.

Additional Director General (Prisons), Atul C. Kulkarni, along with Indian Oil Corporation Ltd Chairman Shrikant M. Vaidya inaugurated the initiative at the YCJ in a ceremony coinciding with the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, who spent three stints at this prison during the Independence movement.

The IOCL will soon appoint special coaches to impart professional training to the interested prisoners in three sporting disciplines -- volleyball, carrom and chess.

Initially, at least 60 inmates, including a few women, have expressed their interest to get training in these sports, and as the numbers increase, IOCL will increase the facilities and possibly the number of sports as per the demands.

Kulkarni said that this is a fitting tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on his birth anniversary since he served terms here during the country's freedom struggle.

Mahatma Gandhi was sent to serve terms here by the British rulers in 1920, 1932 and 1933.

The other prominent personalities who were jailed here included Motilal Nehru, Jawaharlal Nehru and Sarojini Naidu, among others.

In the post-Independence era, some of the well-known people who spent time here were Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Pramila Dandavate and Balasaheb Thackeray, among others.

The chief architect of the Indian Constitution, B.R. Ambedkar, had visited the YCJ in 1932 to meet Gandhiji and convince him to break his four-day-long fast.

A top jail official said that the prison cells where these stalwarts were kept are preserved in their original form and selected persons like school or college students or researchers are allowed to visit them.

Also present in the ceremony was three-time World Carrom Champion Yogesh Pardeshi, who was born in a slum near the YCJ, and now works as a senior IOCL officer. Pardeshi will train the inmates in carrom, said an official.

The 'Parivartan - Prison to Pride' initiative was launched simultaneously by the IOCL for prison inmates in nine states -- Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Asia's biggest walled prison, YCJ was constructed in 1860. Sprawled across 65 acres of land, the prison complex has 5,600 male and 300 female inmates at present.