AMRITSAR: Prisoners across jails in Punjab are showing a keen interest in engaging with diverse literature, ranging from historical texts and literary novels to religious books for their personal enlightenment and intellectual enrichment.
“We receive requests for books based on the interests of jail prisoners from jail superintendents. Subsequently, we publish these books accordingly and distribute them free of charge to the jails” said SPS Oberoi, Managing Trustee of Sarbat Da Bhala Charitable Trust here on Wednesday.
The books in which jail inmates show interest include literary novels by noted writers, fiction, and religious books.
“We provide these books, along with cabinets, to the jail authorities, which were originally stored in the jail gurdwaras. Prisoners borrow these books, read them, and return them once they are finished,” Oberoi explained.
He further elaborated that the Trust’s Sunny Oberoi Vivek Sadan: Advance Institute of Social Sciences, Sri Anandpur Sahib, consistently endeavors to identify pertinent topics that could assist jail inmates in enhancing their lives and ideologies, facilitating their journey toward leading better lives.
Oberoi informed that the institute had also constructed a 42-bed ‘rain basera’ (shelter) for writers, poets, and literary persons who were masters of their art but, owing to any reason, lacked shelter and didn’t have the means to get their work published.
“We will provide everything free of cost at the ‘rain basera’ for these 42 literary persons, ensuring their basic needs are met” said he adding that they would also organize events such as Kavi Darbar or similar functions to help them feel connected to their hobbies and aspirations, ensuring they didn’t feel isolated or neglected from society.
Stating that they were scheduled to hold a two-day national conference on the issue of ‘An Idea of Inclusiveness: The Sacred Space of Sri Anandpur Sahib” on March 1 and 2, the Managing Trustee of SDBCT informed that the sacred text of Guru was also being compiled in the Sadan which would be published and distributed free of cost to schools, universities, libraries, and other institutions.