Chennai gets four new Freedom Stores with products made by prison inmates

The newly inaugurated ‘Sirai Sandhai’ (‘Freedom Store’) at the Tamil Nadu Prison Department’s headquarters in Chennai’s Egmore is attracting a significant number of customers according to officials. The stores sell products made by inmates lodged in various prisons across the state, including clothes, bags, and pickles. The prison department opened four such retail outlets in Egmore, Saidapet, and Puzhal on June 23, as part of its plans to expand its ‘Freedom Stores’, first launched in the state in 2013.

The ‘Sirai Sandhai’ outlets sell a wide range of products including towels, bedsheets, pillow covers, jute bags, door mats, clothes, shoes, belts, and even oils, pickles, and fertiliser. The products are priced between Rs 10 and Rs 1500.

Speaking to TNM, an official at Puzhal Central Prison said that the stores have received a good response so far, and sought further support from the public. “We have good clothing products at low cost. The prison department has also tied up with footwear manufacturer Bata to make shoes at Puzhal Central Prison. These shoes are the highest-priced product in the Freedom Stores,” the official added.

Some of the revenue generated from these stores will go to the prisoners who work on the products, while the remaining funds will be allocated to a Prison Staff Welfare Fund and the Tamil Nadu Prison Department Manufacture of Goods Fund (TNPDMGF). “The idea is to ensure that those incarcerated in jails for various reasons benefit directly from the revenue generated from the stores,” the prison department official told TNM.

According to the Tamil Nadu Home Department’s annual policy note for 2023-34, the turnover of existing ‘Freedom Stores’ in the financial year 2022-23 was Rs 5.23 crore, with a net profit of Rs 1 crore. The stores were first launched in 2013 by the then Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa to market products made by prison inmates at the Puzhal Central Prison. At the time, a corpus fund of Rs 10 lakh was sanctioned for the development of the ‘Prison Bazaars’.

In a 2012 government order announcing the establishment of the stores, the home department had said that 20% of the profits from the stores would go to the prisoners who worked to produce the goods, while 20% would go to the “Government Account”, 20% to the “Prison Staff Welfare Fund” and 40% to the Tamil Nadu Prison Department Manufacture of Goods Fund (TNPDMGF).