Bhagalpur: With the intention of changing the life of the prisoners and helping them re-scrap into the mainstream community, scientists related to Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) at Banka are training 156 prisoners to grow mushrooms that are rich in protein with a low budget.
According to the Prison Supervisor of Banka Sujit Kumar Roy, the goal of the initiative, baptizing ‘ummeed’, is to make prisoners take agriculture after they were released from prison.
“It will change their lives and make them self-employed by bringing socio-economic change in their lives,” Roy told this reporter and added that the prisoners were also trained for the management of livestock and the maintenance of the livestock.
Banka’s prison leader narrated the story of Michal Tuddu, a former prisoner who had received training from KVK scientists in prison.
He said, “After his release, he began to farm goats and inspired his village partner too.” A KVK scientist, Dharmendra Kumar, shows that fungi cultivation and goat farming can be done on a very small scale at a low cost.
“This, however, has many benefits, including high refunds,” he added.
One of the farmers, Vandana Kumari, who also trained prison in prison, said that several mushroom varieties could be planted easily.
“Rich in protein and nutrition elements, mushrooms can replace non-vegetarian food items.
Those involved in their agriculture can produce well,” he said.