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Ranchi News: The hands which once had the stamp of crime, today are becoming the identity of art. In Jharkhand’s Birsa Munda jail, female prisoner Sohrai is re-coloring her life through painting… and these colors have now come out of the jail walls and reached the markets of the world.
Ranchi. Nowadays, a new world of colour, creativity and hope is taking shape within the cold, harsh and silent walls of Birsa Munda Jail in Ranchi, the capital of Jharkhand. The same women who were once serving jail sentences due to crime, circumstances or compulsions, are now earning recognition and respect with the skills of their hands, and that too not only in the country but even abroad. These women are preparing Sohrai painting. The traditional art of Jharkhand which is born from soil, natural colors and simple feelings of life. This heritage, once created on the walls of villages, is now emerging before the world on the walls and canvas of jails.
Jail women are creating a new identity
The jail administration has not stopped at just training, in view of the increasing demand for the paintings made by women prisoners, preparations have already started to provide them a systematic market. For this, a special team has been formed which is preparing a blueprint for online sales, store network and branding. Handloom products are being made inside the jail. Bags, paintings and decorative items are now in regular demand. People’s interest in the stalls set up outside the jail gate is also increasing. The most important thing is that the sale of these products not only provides economic benefits, but is also a big step towards the self-respect and rehabilitation of women prisoners.
Sohrai painting of Ranchi Jail a hit in the international market
Art and hope are blossoming in jail
Under Labor Department rules, prisoners also get paid based on their skills. The fixed wage for skilled is Rs 700, for semi-skilled is Rs 450 and for non-skilled is around Rs 375 per day. At the same time, two-thirds of their earnings are given to them and one-third goes to the Victim Welfare Fund, so that both the parties to the crime can get justice. Jail IG Sudarshan Mandal says that this is not just art but a model of rehabilitation.
