Lalgola Open Air Correctional Home was set up in the year 1987 at Lalgola, a bordering small town in the district of Murshidabad is about 260 kms away from Kolkata. It is situated on 100 acres of land, with a large mango grove having about 1000 mango trees and a pond. The land and the palace where present Correctional home is located were gifted by the Royal Family of Lalgola. At present it has a capacity for 100 prisoners including accommodation in 20 cottages in the campus where prisoners are able to stay with their families. This is a unique experiment of reformation theory put into practice by the State Government.

The Open Air Correctional Home is an open jail in the real sense of the term as the prisoners enjoy complete freedom of movement, as there is no system of day lock up. The gates are opened at 0600 hrs in the morning and the night lockup is at 2000 hrs. Thus from 0600 hrs till 2000 hrs the prisoners are free to go anywhere they like and can pursue any vocation within or outside the correctional home premises. However, they must return to the correctional home by 2000hrs.

Convicts sentenced to imprisonment for a period of 7 years or more and such of them as have already served 2/3rd of their sentence and have maintained all along a good jail record are eligible for transfer to the open air correctional home after thorough screening and personal interview by a board constituted for such selection. Though the correctional home has the status of District Correctional Home, but the Superintendent of the Lalgola Open Air Correctional Home enjoys the rank of Superintendent of Central Correctional Home, which indicates the importance, accorded to this institution. The prisoners are free to pursue any vocation of their choice, to take up any employment and start any trade. The administration with the help of Governmental Institutions and NGOs like Don Bosco Prison Ministry and Ramakrishna Mission Ashram, Malda are assisting them in finding employment while still in custody.

Since they have freedom to go anywhere they like from 0600 hrs to 2000 hrs, their being prisoner does not hinder with their employment. It is a unique help as prisoners can find employment while being in prison. At the moment some of the prisoners have been allowed to purchase goats and cows with their own money for rearing and selling the milk to the public. The entire profit goes to them. Some of them have cottage industries in the family quarters where they are living with family members.

In addition we are teaching them various vocations like TV repairing, motor mechanism, motor driving for which there is great demand in the rural areas. They are trained in different trades viz., cane work, electrical wiring, motor pump repairing, tailoring, horticulture, etc. They are allowed to participate in local melas and collect orders for their products.