DSEU signs pact with Delhi Prisons department for skill enhancements of inmates

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Skill and Entrepreneurship University (DSEU) signed a pact with the Delhi Prisons department on Thursday for training and skill enhancement of inmates to support their long term rehabilitation. With the collaboration, the DSEU will offer different skill-based courses at Tihar Jail and award certificates upon successful completion of the programme to inmates that will help them get employed after their release, prison officials said.

"This skill training would enable inmates upon release to have an opportunity to respectfully integrate themselves into the society," a senior jail official said. For this, DSEU would be deploying trainers to impart skill-based courses for identified groups within the jail premises, the official said.

According to officials, a detailed assessment of existing skills and market requirements will be conducted before the launch of the courses, which will be tailor-made for the prisoners. Director General (Prisons), Sandeep Goel, "This is the need of the hour and with such a strong institutionalized collaboration, we could aim at long term reform of the prisoners. "This program will help us add various skill courses for inmates in our jails which will help them earn their livelihood upon release. This will give the inmates a better opportunity to lead a dignified life.”

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Under the collaboration, the university will also conduct joint workshops, seminars and conferences with leading experts for innovation in the delivery of skill programs in such a unique setting, he said. It is also intended that along with capacity building of the identified groups, specialized programs may also be run for prison staff within the jail premises. The programs at Tihar are expected to launch from July 2022, he added.

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DSEU vice-chancellor Neharika Vohra said, "Through this initiative, we want to give the prisoners a second chance to lead a respectable life upon release. "Along with skill development, we will focus on providing foundational support and emotional-psychological well-being to the inmates for a more holistic learning experience,” she added.