Indian Convicts Redefine ‘Business’ Behind Bars


The Holy Bible says, “Hear, O man; what does the Lord require of you but to love mercy, do justice, and walk humbly with your God?” Criminals are often judged as the unwanted part of the society. May be they have committed crimes for which they were convicted once, but government takes many corrective measures to inspire them to go out and live a respectful life after their conviction. Here we sum up few business initiatives taken by those who were punished and sent to jail once, but now are turning themselves to successful entrepreneurs.

1. Inmates Turned Fashion Designers- Tihar jail

A collection of clothes designed by women inmates of the Tihar Jail were displayed at a fashion show as part of Women’s Day celebrations. The Tihar Jail has for the past five to six months been running a fashion designing course with about 550 women inmates currently enrolled in the course. “The message that we want to give through this event is that we can manufacture quality products in the jail which can compete with any branded items in the market,” said Sunil Kumar, Chief PRO, Tihar Jail. The jail has a factory which has 1100 people employees and the turnover was 15 crore last year and this year it has been around 30 crore.

2. Bakers Behind the Bar- Kerala Jails

After netting a handsome revenue of 6.75 crore in nine months through food-making venture, prisons in Kerala are planning to diversify into more products like cakes, pepped and footwear with an aim of fruitfully engaging prisoners and selling these items to the common man at affordable prices. According to a top Prison Department official, the prison food business posted an impressive turnover of 6.75 crore in the first nine months of this year and is expected to touch about 10 crore by the end of March, 2013.

When Kerala Prison Department ventured into the food business, the sole model before it was the food-making unit of Tihar Jail in Delhi, which sold about of 1.5 crore chapatis and 20 lakh packets of chicken curry last year. While hotels charge 75-90 for a plate of chicken curry and 7-8 for one chapati, the jail chicken-chapati combine costs just 30. The prisoners also benefit from the initiative with cooks and helpers earning 117 as their daily wages so that they can send an average of 3500 to their families a month.

3. Convicts Take a Shine to Leather – Indore Jail

The Indore jail prisoners have a new passion. And the passion also involves fashion. With 40-50 kg of leather made accessible to them every month, the inmates are busy whipping out leather goods to be sold locally. The jail has also been planning to market the handbags and wallets Bhopal, and a national squash later. The training is imparted by the Tata International Ltd, ), engaged in the business of leather goods.

“At present, the leather products (bag, handbags and wallets) are sold locally by small retailers. This is because the quality is not up to the level of a TIL product. To help them achieve the required quality, a technical person will be sent to the jail to train one of the inmates, who will be the master trainer. He, in turn, will teach the others,” said a company spokesperson, stated Business Line.

Cakes costing below 100 and low-price rubber sandals are the next in line and the food business initiative would be extended to two more prisons soon.

4. Handicrafts in Cuff – Jagdalpur Jail

The prisoners at Jagdalpur Jail have set a very inspiring example for many who have been convicted. Inmates at Jagdalpur Central Jail make a wide range of eminent mats and bed sheets, which are in high demand in global markets. There are also around 351 convicts who make art work, handicraft and other designer materials worth 1 crore every year.  “Now, they are always busy in different kinds of activities. These prisoners were being trained in handicrafts and other works so that they could start their own business after being released from the jail”, an official said, stated dailypioneer.com.

The jail has also arranged short term courses that help the prisoners to utilize their free time as well as use their labor in a positive way. The also make other products apart from bed sheets and mats like, beds, sofas, dining-tables, chairs, office tables, steel furniture, cupboards, terracotta items, swings, foot mats, table mats, pen holders and items with cloth, like towels.

5. Penitentiary “Dabbas”  – Tihar Jail

The women prisoners in Tihar Jail are ready to launch their own Tiffin services, and Tihar will be the first prison to start such a business. The idea was that the inmates would prepare the meal and supply lunch to corporate houses and government offices athwart the city.

 Director General (Prisons) Vimla Mehra told Newline, “We are planning to start with the women’s jail first and expand the project to the other jails according to the demand. The number of tiffins, inmates to be engaged in the project, the cuisine and menu depends on the demand. Tihar will try its best to satisfy the customers and give them excellent quality and tasty food” Once instigated the service will be an add on to Tihar’s bakery and snacks business that sells ISO-certified biscuits, nut crackers, salty mixtures and other snack items.

Do Politicians Really Enjoy the Money They Make?


Everybody is looking at how to make more money. And while we are talking about everybody, how can our beloved politicians not feature in the rat race. Our great Indian politicians spend hours at a stretch in devising error proof strategies to loot people and fill their bank accounts. But the irony of the entire situation is that, do they actually get a chance to enjoy the money they skim. Despite being loaded with millions they still cannot flaunt a BMW or an Armani outfit. But there has to be an exception everywhere. The Iron lady of India Jayalalitha has no hitches in flaunting whatever she has achieved.

Do Politicians Really Enjoy the Money They Make?

If we were to look at different politicians who were involved in various scams and earned big fat money then the list would be never ending. So let’s take a look at few prominent politicians who made corruption the limelight of India.

A.Raja- 2G Scam

 Do Politicians Really Enjoy the Money They Make?

He is someone associate to everytime you hear about the 2G spectrum financial scandal in the Telecommunications and IT Ministry. This is the largest political corruption case in the Indian history, a scam worth 176,000 crore. This was followed by his resignation and a raid at his residence by the CBI. Raja was involved in illegally undercharging mobile telephony companies for allocating licenses, which they would use to create 2G subscriptions for cell phones. He arranged the sale of the 2G spectrum licenses below their market value. The estimate to Raja’s wealth is a big amount of 3,000 crore. His personal income increased from 11.47 lakh to 22.12 lakh from 2009 to 2010. Despite making so much money and his newly conquered wealth, he is confined within the walls of Tihar Jail.

Suresh Kalmadi- CWG Scam

Do Politicians Really Enjoy the Money They Make?

Once belonging to the Indian Sports fraternity, Suresh Kalmadi, tainted former CWG Organising Committee chairman, gave rise to the CMG scam for awarding illegal contracts to a Swiss firm for Timing Scoring Result system for the 2010 Commonwealth Games causing a loss of 95 crore to the exchequer. It is estimated that out of 70000 crore spent on the Games, only half the said amount was spent on Indian sportspersons. Kalmadi and his team were in a habit of in the habit of handing out contracts to firms that provided equipment or services at exorbitant rates. During the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, Kalmadi had declared assets worth 12.81 crore while filing nomination from Pune. He had claimed that he owned agriculture land worth 1.38 lakh and house and apartments worth 2.49 crore. What a pity for this man, who looted the public to build his wealth and is now using it to cure his new crisis ‘dementia’, a disease related to memory loss.

BS Yeddyurappa- Land Scam

Do Politicians Really Enjoy the Money They Make?

Every scam must have something unique in it to make money, take a look at the multi-crore land scam by the former Karnataka Chief Minister and the BJP leader BS Yeddyurappa that had all the suspense and drama a scam needs. He made a sincere effort in bringing a complete change in every rule stated in the book, only to ensure allotment of land for his sons and other family members. He gave away two acres of industrial land to his family firm in Bangalore, two acres to his daughter’s BPO firm, a residential plot to his son in Bangalore, 134 acres (mining lease) to his followers and residential plots to his relatives in Mysore. He made sure the lands were de-notified in return for investments in his family firms or lands were allotted on a preferential basis to enable the business growth of these companies. With 15 illegal transactions carried out by the CM, his family made around 190 crore. According to Yeddyurappa’s affidavit, the assets owned by him are worth 1. 82 Crore while liabilities are 2.59 Lakhs. This bumpy ride gradually led to a downfall of Yeddyurappa.

Madhu Koda- Hawala Scam

Do Politicians Really Enjoy the Money They Make?

Another feather in the cap of the Indian corruption list is Hawala Scam by the former Jharkand Chief Minister,’ Madhu Koda’ was responsible for a scam worth over 4000 Crore. This corrupt politician exploited the state’s natural resources by licensing illegal mining leases and hiding the wealth collective during the undertaking. You would be astonished on reading the eventful life this man enjoyed. From being a labourer who worked in the mines to receiving all the benefits by capturing the Chief Minister’s chair and now the district jail, he was charged with washing off money. He has propery worth 130 Crore. And the government is set to confiscate assets worth 125.

Mayawati- Power Scam

Do Politicians Really Enjoy the Money They Make?

Someone who didn’t leave even a single opportunity to misuse her power is Mayawati. The mother of all scams, who uses shoddy way to get funds. She is accused of 3,000 Crore power scam. The state-owned Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation sacrificed lower rate of power from the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and other agencies, and made an agreement with five private power companies to purchase 5,000 crore units of power from July 2011 to June 2012 at a much higher rate. She was also charged with corruption when the Taj Heritage corridor case was uncovered. Mayawati’s government is involved in 100 scams worth 2.54 lakh crore and 4 lakh crore scams of central government. Her net worth at present is more than 87 crore, a gain of at least 35 crore over her 2007 declaration of 52 crore. With more than 67 percent returns in three years. She is the most corrupt politician India has ever seen.

Most Corrupted Politicians


A Raja

a raja

Said to be the mother of all scams, 2G spectrum scandal had A Raja at its center from the beginning. The whole deal of issuing 1232 2G spectrum licenses to 85 companies at a price set in the year 2001 by the UPA alliance was in the shadow of doubt from its beginning. The CAG report on the scam reveals that it caused a loss of 1.76-lakh crore to the exchequer. The report which termed allocation deal as arbitrary, unfair and inequitable held the then telecom minister Raja responsible for the sale of 2G spectrum and the huge revenue loss. It was revealed that the minster had personally signed and approved the majority of the questionable allocations. Raja was arrested on February 2, 2011 and later sent to Tihar Jail for judicial custody. CBI and Enforcement Directorate estimate that Raja could have made as much as 3,000 crore from the alleged bribes.

Amar Singh

Its jail time for Amar Singh, the politician who always enjoyed the limelight for various reasons from his close bonds with Ambanis and Bachchans to the cash-for-votes scam that questioned the value of democracy. He is the latest one in the band of politicians spending days counting the bars at the Tihar jail. The high profile jail has felt the presence of many big shots lately including 2G-scam accused A Raja and Kanimozhi as well as former CWG chairman Suresh Kalmadi. Here is a list of top politicians who are in jail for some of the recent scams that rocked the Indian politics.

Amar Singh arrested

The political heavyweight from Uttar Pradesh has been a prominent voice in the Indian parliament over a decade now. Beyond politics, he has a special affection for Bollywood where he called its Godfather Amitabh Bachchan his brother and was linked to many actresses including Jaya Prada. He was often seen in the company of Bollywood stars and corporate honchos. In a leaked tape that Singh claimed is bogus, his close friend and Chairperson of Reliance ADAG Anil Ambani allegedly offered him 20-25 crore to fix a deal. He was quick in making friends and foes in politics and on many occasions, his political friends turned to be bitter rivals and vice versa. In a major setback, Singh was charge sheeted in the ash-for-votes scandal in 2008. It was alleged that he conspired and masterminded the scam when the UPA government was facing a floor test in Parliament after the Left Front pulled off from the collision due to difference over the U.S.-India nuclear deal. The day has come now for Amar Singh as the Special judge rejected his interim bail plea and sent him to judicial custody in Tihar jail.

M. K. Kanimozhi

Kanimozhi

She has been the favorite child of DMK Chief M Karunanidhi and has been the urban face of the party. The political career that began in 2007 after being elected to the Rajya Sabha, has been under the shadow of doubt after ever since the 2G scam broke out. On 20 May 2011 Kanimozhi Karunanidhi was arrested and sent to Tihar Prisons in India after her bail plea was rejected in the 2G spectrum scam case, in which she is alleged to be co-conspirator.

Suresh Kalmadi

10 Most Corrupt Indian Politicians

Suresh Kalmadi, almost single handedly caused a loss of hundreds of crores of rupees to the country. The Commonwealth Games, organized by Kalmadi was no less than a loot with numerous reports of the magnum opus event being soaked in corruption making headlines way before the Games had even started. Apparently, out of Rs. 70000 crores spent on the Games, only half of the amount was actually spent. Owing to his involvement in the scam, Kalmadi was charged with corruption and sent to Tihar jail.

Mayawati

10 Most Corrupt Indian Politicians

Mayawati has always been criticized for ostentatious display of power in her state. She has allegedly used her status as chief minister to amass large amounts of personal wealth. She was charged with corruption when the Taj Heritage Corridor Case was uncovered. Mayawati’s birthdays have always been media events, where she usually appears decked in diamond jewellery and also accepts public donations for which, she often comes under fire. Her assets are worth millions of dollars and in the year 2007-08, she had paid an income tax of Rs. 26 crores, which placed her amongst the top 20 taxpayers of the year.

Lalu Prasad Yadav

10 Most Corrupt Indian Politicians

The fact that Lalu Prasad Yadav has been an accused in 63-odd cases serves for the fact that Lalu stands as one of the strongest competitor in the list. The biggest scam that rocked Lalu’s political career was the fodder scam which involved the embezzlement of Rs. 950 crore approximately. The accusation of nepotism against him has come up time and again but hardly any action has been taken against him owing to his ‘connections’ in the government.

Madhu Koda

10 Most Corrupt Indian Politicians

Former Jharkand Chief Minister, and only the third independent legislator to assume the office of chief minister in India, Madhu Koda was responsible for a scam worth over Rs. 4000 crore. The man exploited the state’s natural resources by licensing illegal mining leases and stashing away the wealth amassed during the undertaking. Furthermore, the Maoists received a 30% share of the booty. Koda was arrested on charges of money laundering and is still in prison following the rejection of numerous bail applications.

Mulayam Singh Yadav

10 Most Corrupt Indian Politicians

Mulayam Singh Yadav is also known as one of the most corrupt ministers in the country despite not being directly involved in any major scams. Apart from his name being involved in appointments of tainted officers and mishandling of his power as chief minister, Mulayam Singh had one major allegation levelled against him– accumulation of disproportionate assets. The case drew limelight on his sons and daughter-in-law as they too were holders of the assests that amounted to crores of rupees.

Karunanidhi

10 Most Corrupt Indian Politicians

The corruptions charges against M. Karunanidhi are so many that he is often referred to as the king or emperor of corruption. He was accused of lending support to the LTTE and was indicted for abetting the LTTE in the interim report which oversaw the investigation into Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination.

Karunanidhi reportedly institutionalized corruption in the South. He was a leading player in the cash for votes scams that are common in the southern region, as well as notorious foe extreme nepotism shown under his rule. Not so surprising, is the fact that the main accused in the 2G scam, A, Raja, considers him to be his mentor.

Sharad Pawar

10 Most Corrupt Indian Politicians

Very few people can miss the cosy relationship that Sharad Pawar shares with power and money.Every now and then, Pawar draws flak for alleged investments made by him and his family in various illegal projects. He was named by Abdul Karim Telgi, during a narcoanalysis test, stating that it was Pawar’s brainchild to print fake stamp papers across the country and mint money. He was also accused in a multi-crore scam involving wheat imports and institutions headed by him and his close associates were served notices by the Bombay High Court for showing favoritism to his family.

Jayalalithaa

10 Most Corrupt Indian Politicians

The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu has a staggering 46 corruption cases against her. Amongst the various scams were the Rs. 70 million coal import scam, Tansi land deal case, case of disproportionate assets and colour TV case, amongst many others. A raid in her residence and business establishments led to the seizure of some 28 kg of jewellery (worth Rs 51 crore), 91 wrist-watches, 41 air-conditioners, 10,500 sarees, 750 pairs of footwears, etc. She along with her former cabinet colleagues and senior bureaucrats who worked with her are still facing investigation with regard to corruption.

BS Yeddyurappa

10 Most Corrupt Indian Politicians

The most recent politician to be caught in the web of corruption is former Chief Minister of Karnataka, B. S. Yeddyurappa. While he has a number of corruption lying against him, the one that toppled his career was his alleged involvement in the illegal iron ore export scam in districts of Karnataka. A lot of blame game followed and ended up with Yeddyurappa losing his ministerial post last month. Despite his denial, his image as one of the most corrupt politicians of the country will not fade anytime soon.