Indian jail will use inmates in banking outsourcing unit

From the “What-were-they-thinking?" department

Security guru Bruce Schneier on his “Schneier on Security” blog noticed this one:

Charlapally Central Jail, near the Andhra Pradesh state capital Hyderabad will set up a public-private partnership with Radiant Info Systems to put 200 inmates to work doing data entry and information processing FOR BANKS!

The unit will have round-the-clock staffing – three shifts of 70 staff each.

The inmates will receive the equivalent of $2.20-3.32 US per day. Normal prison wages are 33 cents per day.

The BBC quoted CN Gopinath Reddy, the state's director general of prisons: "The idea is to ensure a good future for the educated convicts after they come out of jail. With their experience of working in the BPO [business process outsourcing] in jail, any company will absorb them in future."

Now the REALLY good news: BBC wrote: “Officials say this is a pilot project and, if it succeeds, it could be extended to other jails in the state.”

Story here: “Outsourcing unit to be set up in Indian jail”

Tom Kelchner