Tihar inmates' wages doubled

NEW DELHI: Delhi government has nearly doubled the wages earned by Tihar inmates under the Minimum Wages Act for the work rendered by them in the jail factory.

Wages are disbursed to the Tihar inmates in three categories - skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled workers. A skilled worker gets Rs 52 per day while semi-skilled and unskilled labourers are daily paid Rs 44 and Rs 40 respectively.

As per the instructions of the lieutenant-governor Tejendra Khanna skilled workers will now get Rs 99 per day while semi-skilled and unskilled labourers will now be paid Rs 81 and Rs 70 respectively, spokesperson for Tihar inmates Sunil Gupta said.

"Their wages have nearly been doubled. This has been done keeping in mind the welfare of the inmates. From this amount 25 per cent will be deducted towards compensation to victims wronged by the inmates," he said.

Sacked IPS officer Ravi Kant Sharma, who is serving life imprisonment in the Shivani Bhatnagar murder case had earlier written a letter to the Chief Minister where he had sought her intervention for increasing the daily wages of all workers to Rs 200 per day as per the laid down norms.

Gupta said, "This is not possible as a huge expenditure is incurred by the jail during their stay here. They learn work here and this helps them to earn better when they have completed their prison term."