INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
SURAT: Their stars may not be shining as bright, but every stone they pick up to work upon, sparkles like a diamond
With that vision to perfection Lajpore Central Jail (LCJ) inmates have successfully been producing over 25,000 pieces of small-size natural
diamonds every month.Unbelievable, but if the Diamond City polishes 95% of world's diamonds, city's jail also has a small, but
significant contribution to take credit for
As many as 107 prisoners are working as diamond polishers behind bars in the jail's polishing unit
The prisoner artisans have been trained for various types of cut and polishing work and earn up to Rs 20,000 every month depending upon the
work and the profile of their jobs."Ours is the only jail probably in the world where natural diamond cutting and polishing takes place
The unit is working smoothly without any complaint," said J N Desai, superintendent of police, LCJ.Remarkably, around 3,000 prisoners are
lodged in LCJ and a vast majority of them work on various trade activities including diamond polishing, furniture making, snack making,
painting, sculpture, and photo copy, among others.'Despite being in jail, I can support my kin' Vipul Mer (33), serving a lifer, has been
lodged in jail for a decade now
Mer works as manager in the unit and earns up to Rs 20,000 depending upon the output per month
"I was a diamond artisan before being lodged in jail
I started working here when the unit started and despite being in jail I can support my family financially."Of the total earnings, a
prisoner is supposed to keep only Rs 2,100 per month to spend for their personal expenses in the jail
The remaining amount is sent to their families."I have learned diamond polishing after I was lodged in the jail 11 months ago," said another
fellow prisoner, Satyam Pal (23), who added hat he now earns around Rs 8,000 per month
"I hope to keep working as a polisher even when I am out of jail," he said.
