An exhibition of 288 paintings and 92 sculptures made by 31 inmate-students of different correctional homes of the State in course of an eight month long Art Workshop conducted by renowned artist Chitta Dey at Alipore Central Correctional Home was organised by West Bengal Correctional Services in partnership with Birla Academy of Art & Culture and Flight to Harmony Foundation. The exhibition at Birla Academy of Art & Culture was inaugurated by Sri Gopalkrishna Gandhi, Hon’ble Governor of West Bengal on 24.09.08 in presence of Sri Biswanath Choudhury, MIC, Jails Deptt and Sri Ramananda Bandyopadhyay, an eminent artist. The exhibition was on from 24.09.08 – 19.10.08. A large number of paintings & sculptures were sold during exhibition. A part of the sale proceeds was contributed to West Bengal Prisoners’ Welfare Fund.

The President of India Meets the Prisoners :

It was a moment of supreme significance in the history of prisons in India. The President of India, the country’s first citizen, met those who have long been considered society’s outcasts. It symbolized the new meaning of imprisonment, which is a journey of hope from the lowest level of existence to the highest of aspirational possibilities. To make the moment last forever, the prisoners presented her with a symbol of eternal peace. They had toiled night and day for months to create with their own two hands a sculpture which would appropriately represent their aspirations. In anticipation of Her Excellency The President’s visit to Kolkata, the prisoners had been working on the Peace Plaque, a clay sculpture they created at the art workshop inside Alipore Correctional Home under the direction of artist Chitta Dey.

• Annual sports competitions are being organized in different correctional homes for inmates and the children accompanying their parents. Help of NGO partners is also being taken in this respect.
• Competitions are being organized in different correctional homes in cricket, football and carom from time to time with the help of NGO partners.
• Kabaddi has been introduced in the correctional homes of West Bengal. Matches between Kabaddi teams from outside and those of correctional homes are being organized. Thus outside sports teams are participating in a sports event inside the correctional homes for the first time. Kabaddi kabaddi...catch the Cops