Kerala mulling education aid for kids of jail inmates

KANNUR - Kerala Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan Monday said the government is considering a scheme to provide financial assistance to children of jail inmates for their education.

He said this while inaugurating a new surveillance system at the high security Kannur Jail.

Later speaking to IANS, Balakrishnan said: “We have some funds that are lying unused and along with the social welfare department we are working on the scheme.”

“Next month we are having a high level meeting to discuss and finalise the scheme and when launched it certainly would be a novel one,” he said.

A study conducted last year by the public works department in the 41 jails in the state, including three central jails, showed that the total number of inmates has touched 6,557.

He added that four new jails would be opened soon to avoid overcrowding.

Elaborating on the proposed scheme, he said it could be in the form of a monthly cash assistance to meet the basic education needs of the children of jail inmates.

“It could be Rs.500 per month. We are also working out if we can have a graded monthly assistance depending on the course the children are studying,” he said.

“Our officials would be ready with all the statistics when we meet next month because first we need to identify how many children of jail inmates are studying,” said Balakrishnan.