JAIL OFFICIAL’S EXPERIMENTS WITH TRUTH

10 jail officials along with 80 inmates of Arthur Road Jail
have appeared for Gandhi Peace Exam

The Jail Gandhi Peace examination conducted for prisoners by Mumbai Sarvoday Mandal was held at the Arthur Road Central Jail on Wednesday for the fourth consecutive year.
The aim of the examination is to bring about a change in the life of the inmates and to inculcate qualities of Satya and Ahimsa amongst them.
Though the examination is primarily meant for detainees, ever jail officials take pride in appearing for the examination. More than 80 inmates and 10 police officials participated in this exam. Apart from them the counselors, most of whom are MSWs; industrial trainers and the medical officer have also appeared for the examination.
The study material, comprising Mahatma Gandhi’s autobiography and other literature by and on Gandhiji is sent to the inmates in advance for self-study. Lectures are also held to educate them about Gandhiji’s thoughts. The examinees have the options of appearing for the examination in English, Hindi, Marathi or Gujarati and they are allowed to ask for reference books for study, before the examination.
Amar Sawant, a AIDs counselor in the jail, who appeared for the examination said, “I has some misgivings about Gandhiji, but after reading the literature provided to the prisoners, I was enlightened and I changed my opinion about the Mahatma.”
Vairan Uttam, another examinee and a clinical psychologist, who has been handling the prisoners for just over month, said that the Gandhian literature will help him in dealing with the prisoners better.
The jailers also found the material provided to the examiners to be very useful. Senior Jailor Group I, Ashok Karkar stated that he had learnt about Gandhiji even in school, but the film Lage Raho Munnabhai helped people understand how to use Gandhiji’s teachings in daily life.
The Gandhian literature has had a great impact on Yashwant Shirsat, who has already spent 15 years in jails, likes to be the mediator in case of arguments or fights between the inmates of the jail.
The results of the examination are to be announced on 2nd October, Gandhi Jayanti and certificates of participation would be presented to the examinees that day.
On the occasion of 140th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi and International Day of Non-violence, Sarvodaya Mandal is organizing Gandhi Peace Exam in 11 jails of Maharashtra where about 852 jail inmates along with many jail officials will appeared for Gandhi Peace exam in the month of October.