Date:01/12/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/12/01/stories/2006120117480400.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

Promoting literacy among prisoners, mendicants

Staff Reporter

`Baravva Kaliyakke' programme is designed for them

RAISING AWARENESS: Prisoners staging a play in Bangalore on Thursday. — Photo: Sampath Kumar G.P.

BANGALORE: Beggars too have self-respect and convicts crave for knowledge. These were the two themes that were enacted by beggars and convicts in separate plays on Thursday.

Bangalore City Shaksharata Samiti, which produced these plays, was attempting to promote literacy in an innovative way by making beggars and convicts act in them.

In fact, the samiti has started a literacy programme for beggars at the Centre for Rehabilitation of Beggars on Magadi Road and convicts of the Parappana Agrahara Prison. It started the "Baravva Kaliyakke" programme specially designed for these people on October 30, and has trained 80 volunteers among the 4,857 convicts in the prison. "These volunteers, who have been trained for two days, will in turn teach 10 prisoners each. This way we will involve more convicts into the programme, which is on till December 31," said samiti secretary H. Sridhar Murthy.

Pointing out that this group was trained for 15 days to enact the play, he said the samiti would take up similar programmes throughout the State.

Additional Director-General of Police (Prisons) S.T. Ramesh, who encouraged the samiti in its endeavour, said that this team would be allowed to perform in all divisional jails of various districts to create awareness about literacy. Karnataka High Court judge V. Gopala Gowda, Commissioner of Public Instruction K. Shivram, Inspector-General of Police (Prisons) B.S. Abbai and Bangalore City Shakasharata Samiti vice-president G.V. Bhakta Priya were present.