Kozhikode: The Kozhikode district jail dons a new look now as inmates joined hands with artists to create murals on its entrance walls. The paintings depict cultural and historical events of the region.
Pictures on Vasco da Gama's arrival in Kozhikode, his meeting with the Zamorin (the monarch of the kingdom of Kozhikode), Kunjali Marakkar's naval fleet, Kalaripayattu, village folks (nattukootam) and village markets (gramachantha) are the images that adorn the walls. Images on agriculture also lend colour to the paintings.
There are also plans to deck up other walls of the jail too with paintings.
Prison DGP Rishi Raj Singh unveiled the mural paintings on Sunday. It took one month to complete the paintings. Kozhikode police control room sub-inspector Premdas Iruvalloor and High Court advocate Aroor Biju led the project. Jail inmates, who were earlier given training, too became part of the initiative.
Lions Club and Calicut Diamonds too chipped in for the project.
Welfare schemes
Several welfare schemes for prisoners were also launched during the event on Sunday.
Various job training courses for the prisoners were also launched. The prisoners are being trained in steel and aluminium fabrication as well as LED bulb manufacturing. Women prisoners would be trained on making cloth bags.
The harvesting of vegetable crops, raised by the prisoners on the 20 cents of the jail premises, was also carried out.
A petrol pump and cafeteria too would be constructed on the land between special sub-jail and north zone jail DIG's office. The DGP also visited this plot.
North zone prison DIG M K Vinod Kumar chaired the event. District jail superintendent V Jaykumar, government technical school principal KK Rajesh, Lions Club president M Rajeesh, and welfare officer Rajesh Kumar spoke at the event.