Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live Sunday
Indian Prison Teaches Inmates Crafts
Aired August 03, 2003 - 16:36 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN ANCHOR: Inmates at a maximum security prison in India have a lot of time on their hands, and they're putting at least some of it to good use. They're making everything from rugs to baked goods, and some of their products may start popping up at your local mall. Our Satinder Bindra has the story from New Delhi.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SATINDER BINDRA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Behind the imposing gates of one of Asia's largest prisons, some of India's most hardened criminals are hard at work, learning how to weave carpets and make paper bags.
"If we didn't have this work, we'd go mad," says this convict Prim Cham (ph). "We concentrate on our work all day, and our minds don't wander."
Prim Cham (ph) has already served seven years of a lengthy sentence for a ghastly crime, murdering his wife. But here in jail few are judging the morality of his actions. They're focusing on reality that when Prim Chan (ph) is released he'll take with him a new skill, one that may enable him to find work rather than be pulled back into another society-damaging stint in crime.
These prisoners have all spent months learning paper and rug- making skills. Prim Chan (ph) says he's now proficient enough to weave a carpet in five days.
Impressed with their craft and creativity, a U.S. based company has now asked the jail where these convicts work to supply them with 1,000 rugs and 2,000 paper bags. The goods will be sold as Christmas gifts at an upscale New Jersey mall. Profits from the sale go to the Indian government. A part will also be used for inmate welfare, but officials deny they'll be pampering prisoners.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They get normal food, they get clean water, clean environment. That's not comfort, that's a basic requirement for a human being.
BINDRA: The jail's boss recognizes his program could be controversial, but he says the world must recognize his goal is prisoner rehabilitation. These convicts are all paid token amounts of 10 to 30 cents a day for working a seven-hour shift. The inmates can then use this money, he says, to set up small businesses once they're released.
Prisoner Vimal Chahan (ph) looks forward to that date because he's serving a lengthy sentence for murder. He says he's remorseful and says if people in the U.S. buy what he makes it could turn around his life.
"People in the United States should realize we are human beings," he says, "we're not just criminals and want to reform ourselves."
As part of reforming their lives these convicts also learn, believe it or not, to bake cookies, cakes, and bread. Their sales are doing well in India, and the same U.S. company that ordered paper bags and rugs from this jail says it's now planning to give Americans a taste of these convicts' cooking skills. Satinder Bindra, CNN, New Delhi
(END VIDEOTAPE).
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired August 3, 2003 - 16:36 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN ANCHOR: Inmates at a maximum security prison in India have a lot of time on their hands, and they're putting at least some of it to good use. They're making everything from rugs to baked goods, and some of their products may start popping up at your local mall. Our Satinder Bindra has the story from New Delhi.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SATINDER BINDRA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Behind the imposing gates of one of Asia's largest prisons, some of India's most hardened criminals are hard at work, learning how to weave carpets and make paper bags.
"If we didn't have this work, we'd go mad," says this convict Prim Cham (ph). "We concentrate on our work all day, and our minds don't wander."
Prim Cham (ph) has already served seven years of a lengthy sentence for a ghastly crime, murdering his wife. But here in jail few are judging the morality of his actions. They're focusing on reality that when Prim Chan (ph) is released he'll take with him a new skill, one that may enable him to find work rather than be pulled back into another society-damaging stint in crime.
These prisoners have all spent months learning paper and rug- making skills. Prim Chan (ph) says he's now proficient enough to weave a carpet in five days.
Impressed with their craft and creativity, a U.S. based company has now asked the jail where these convicts work to supply them with 1,000 rugs and 2,000 paper bags. The goods will be sold as Christmas gifts at an upscale New Jersey mall. Profits from the sale go to the Indian government. A part will also be used for inmate welfare, but officials deny they'll be pampering prisoners.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They get normal food, they get clean water, clean environment. That's not comfort, that's a basic requirement for a human being.
BINDRA: The jail's boss recognizes his program could be controversial, but he says the world must recognize his goal is prisoner rehabilitation. These convicts are all paid token amounts of 10 to 30 cents a day for working a seven-hour shift. The inmates can then use this money, he says, to set up small businesses once they're released.
Prisoner Vimal Chahan (ph) looks forward to that date because he's serving a lengthy sentence for murder. He says he's remorseful and says if people in the U.S. buy what he makes it could turn around his life.
"People in the United States should realize we are human beings," he says, "we're not just criminals and want to reform ourselves."
As part of reforming their lives these convicts also learn, believe it or not, to bake cookies, cakes, and bread. Their sales are doing well in India, and the same U.S. company that ordered paper bags and rugs from this jail says it's now planning to give Americans a taste of these convicts' cooking skills. Satinder Bindra, CNN, New Delhi
(END VIDEOTAPE).
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
