Author: Ambreesh Mishra
Publication: India Today
Dated: July 9, 2007
Introduction: Over two dozen life-term convicts in the Bhopal Central Jail are pursuing MBA degrees which keeps their minds off the harsh prison routine and also gives them something to look forward to
Mahipal Singh Rajput, a 51-yearold agriculturist from the fertile Narmada belt in Hoshangabad, is studying the Reliance Fresh model these days. With masters degrees in economics and geography, his interest in the evolving organised retail of farm products is only natural, but for the fact he is convicted of murder and is serving a life sentence. And the studies are a part of his ongoing MBA programme.
Over two dozen inmates of the Bhopal Central Jail are at present pursuing MBA degrees. Barring one, all of them including a woman, are serving life-terms for murder. The only convict without the tag of Section 302 in the MBA programme is a young man convicted of attempt to murder. Their crimes taught them a lot about life. Now the penal sentence is opening up new avenues of learning.
The MBA course in the prison is being run by Bhoj University for Distance Learning, modelled on the lines of the Indira Gandhi National Open University. "The very idea of distance education is to reach out to hitherto untouched groups. Who could be more secluded than the convicts lodged in jails?" says university Vice Chancellor Dr Kamlakar Singh.
The first three in-mates, who earned their MBA degrees, were serving short-term sentences and have already been released.
In the current batch, all, without exception, have passed their second semester exams. The convicts have been diligent in their efforts at pursuing the degree. Ever since the jail was recognised as a study centre two years ago, faculty members from Bhoj University hold regular classes here. The prison library now has an impressive array of books on management. The university regularly lends periodicals and papers to the inmates on relevant subjects. Dr. Nafees Ahmed Khan, who teaches management, says, "Their enthusiasm is touching, given the circumstances. To ensure they're not left out on the exposure front, we're trying to evolve a system whereby we can have guest lectures arranged for them in the jail from eminent businesspersons."
According to Jail Superintendent Purushottam Somkunwar, who is also the brain behind MBA and DCA courses, their efforts to bring over corporate managers as guest or motivational speakers have only been partially successful. "They can't spare time on weekdays while nobody wants to let go of weekends just to give lectures to inmates here," he says. Now, the jail's own labour programme, which mandates six hours of compulsory work for each inmate sentenced to rigorous imprisonment, could show a way out.
One of the biggest stumbling blocks in their completion of a meaningful MBA programme is that the onvicts can neither do internship nor join as management trainees at any organisation. Besides, proper case studies based on field research are impossible due to their confinement. To top it all, there are legal constraints against their use of Internet due to connectivity to the outside world. Realising the odds against conducting a successful MBA programme in a prison, the jail administration is trying to think out of the box.
But for their conviction for murder, the convicts have little in common. Shalini Pathak, an unmarried 28-yearold from Sehore who holds a masters in English literature, was accused of being part of a gang of highway robbers who waylaid unsuspecting motorists. One heist went terribly wrong and the victim was killed. She was convicted for murder five years ago. With her appeal against the lower court order pending in Jabalpur High Court, Shalini decided to pursue MBA and plans to specialise in human resources (HR) management.
HR appears to be the stream of choice among the MBA aspirant convicts. "It's because we can remain in the background when we eventually get out and land jobs. Nobody would want convicts of murder at the frontline jobs in sales or marketing," explains Kamlesh Gaur, 28, who worked with a leading NGO in his hometown Sehore before getting involved in a violent crime and being convicted. He wanted to pursue a masters in social work but the course is not available in the prison.
The motivation for joining the MBA course differs in each case. For Mahipal, the eldest of the group, it was simply to motivate fellow inmates. "If a 51-year-old guy can do it, so can others," he says. As a bonus, the grandkids in his affluent joint-family who always abhorred the idea of pursuing professional courses are beginning to get serious about quality education.
For others like the 30-year-old Rajesh Shakya, an electrical engineer from Bhopal who began his sentence six years ago, it is simply an extension of his plans before he was convicted. "It was clear by the time I had finished my engineering that it wouldn't amount to much in the job market," he says, adding that the rigours of an MBA course kept him occupied and diverted his mind from the harsh prison routine.
Each inmate who is serving a life-term has filed an appeal in the Jabalpur High Court against the conviction verdict of the lower court. And barring 40year-old Mohammed Jaleel from Sironj who has already been incarcerated for12 years, there is little hope for them of getting out early, if their appeals are rejected in the higher courts. The fact that they could be in prison for the long haul doesn't bother the wannabe MBAS. Shailendra Batham, 24, who was convicted when still only 18, says with a philosophically touch, "What has happened is past. Future is the only thing we can look forward to."
After the roller-coaster ride in the life of crime and punishment, many convicts begin to acquire a deep belief in the idea of fate. Others turn to religion for solace. "That's the reason why we have launched courses in priesthood and astrology. The idea is to keep them occupied with things they are comfortable with in a disturbed phase of their lives. Besides, it's a good livelihood choice for convicts after their release," says Somkunwar.
For all its novelty and potential, the idea is a flash in the pan, the outcome of individual initiative on the part of some officials rather than an institutionalised approach to wide-ranging prison reforms. The first open jail in the country for surrendered dacoits of the dreaded Chambal region closed down well over two decades ago. The only surviving open jail is in Sanganer in Rajasthan without much effort for its replication elsewhere.
The Do Aankhein, Barah Haath moment, immortalised on celluloid by the late V Shantaram, appears to have passed prisons by even as the Justice Mulla Commission report on prison reforms and big tomes of recommendations by every conceivable agency-right from parliamentary committees on women welfare to state human rights commissions and leading law schools-have belaboured the need for such reforms.
Prisons being a subject on the state list, the amendments to laws, codes and manuals must come from the state legislature. Explains Professor C. Rajshekhar of National Law Institute University, "Unfortunately, most lawmakers these days come from a rural-feudal background where the idea of retributive justice is deeply entrenched." But for this band of brothers serving life-terms, the idea of a professional degree is enough to look at the future with hope.