Nearly 300 prison inmates appear for literacy exam

Thiruvananthapuram: Nearly 300 prisoners, including two hailing from Bihar, lodged in prisons across the state, appeared for the first literacy examination conducted by Kerala Literacy mission for jail inmates.

A total of 297 jail inmates took the examination yesterday, which tested reading, writing and Mathematical skills, Literacy Mission sources said.

In an effort to eliminate illiteracy in jails in the state, the mission along with Prisons and Correctional Services department had started ‘Jail Jyothi’ programme in December 2016 to impart basic skills of reading and writing to the inmates.

This was the first examination conducted after the Jail Jyothi programme commenced, the sources said.

Seventy-five-year old Chandran, who was the oldest prisoner to take the test, is behind bars since the past three years in connection with an Abkari case.

Those serving life terms and undertrials were among those appeared for the examination at Poojapura jail here, sources said.

In Kochi, nine prisoners appeared for the examination, while in Kasaragod the number was 33, Palakkad 29, Thrissur 25, Malappuram 30, Wayanad 22 and Kannur 15, the sources added.