Artistic skills on display - Diwali item created by Yerwada Inmates

Did you know? - Pune’s historic Yerwada Central Prison has a Maharashtra Jail Industry retail shop, where you can buy decorative items for Diwali, made in-house by the inmates?

Prisoners who have already been convicted and are serving sentences of imprisonment display their handmade Diwali items exhibition each year at the Karagruha Udyog Maharashtra Vikri Kendra started near the Samrat Ashok Path, Yerawada.

The Diwali exhibition of 2020 includes many more forms of arts & crafts including carpentry, handloom, paintings & decoration pieces by paper section dept. Yet the most attractive among all are hand-painted Diyas and pretty lanterns. In the middle of Diwali preparation, this shouldn't go unnoticed by us.

Inmates of Yerwada Jail are assigned to different art sections where they are free to use their imagination. The objective is to reform and rehabilitate them. The idea is to keep the prisoners engaged and enrich them with skills that they can follow after they are released. Not only this, the inmates are given certain wages from the sales of the exhibition, which they often use to buy gifts for their relatives or send to their loved ones.