Vadodara Central Jail launches ‘Radio Prison’

For the mindset change and entertainment of inmates, the jail will enter the age of radio and start the fourth FM of Gujarat.

Baldev Singh Vaghela, Superintendent of Prisons said that by the direct order of the Director-General of Prisons, this FM in Vadodara Jail is being launched for them. All the facilities including the studio required for it have been raised inside the jail. Broadcasts of programs on it can also be heard within the four walls of the jail.

A new story of facilities for inmates has been written in the history of the State’s jails on Gandhi Jayanti 2nd October 2020 last year, Prisoner Welfare Officer Mahesh Rathore said that on that day, the State’s first FM station was set up at Sabarmati Jail. Later after Surat and Rajkot’s jails, the radio will now be in Vadodara jail which will give the inmates the necessary space to express their attitudes and feelings.

For this radio station, an open-air theater will be equipped with monitors, computers along with all necessary pieces of equipment for the FM radio station. Radio Jockey microphones have also been installed for the station.

As many as 58 speakers have been installed in barracks as well as in prisons so that inmates can hear the broadcast.

This FM is for inmates and will be operated by inmates under the supervision of the prison authorities. The radio will provide a platform for prisoners to showcase their creative skills. They will be able to broadcast their thoughts, feelings, poems, stories, shayari, book critique, from the station of this radio. Also, motivational speeches of dignitaries can be broadcast through this station.

Attached to it is a Public Address System, with the help of which universal information for the inmates can also be transmitted.

The prison administration of Gujarat has always been at the forefront in the experimentation of prisoner welfare. The initiative, which allows inmates to become radio jockeys and run radio stations, is another innovative experiment. Perhaps in the future, after completing their term a former prisoner might be a successful Radio Jockey.