Authorities in Andhra Pradesh are planning to set up an outsourcing unit in a jail.

The unit will employ 200 educated convicts who will handle back office operations like data entry, and process and transmit information. The project will begin at Charlapally Central Jail, near the state capital Hyderabad, in the next four months. The prison, with 2,100 inmates, is Andhra Pradesh's most modern with state-of-the-art facilities.

The proposed outsourcing unit is a public-private partnership between the department of jails and an IT company. The unit, which is expected to undertake back-office work for banks, will work round the clock with three shifts of 70 staff each. Working in the unit will also be financially rewarding for the prisoners.

Officials say this is a pilot project and, if it succeeds, it could be extended to other jails in the state. Of the total 13,000 convicts in Andhra Pradesh jails, about 2,000 are considered well-educated and could potentially be good workers for BPOs and even call centres in the future.

Ref: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8677486.stm