Businesses grapple with mounting costs of accessing labour pools for recruitment. At the same time, the jail administrations struggle to find recruiters for a skilled group of convicts. Can collaboration help? It is in this light that the case focusses on the prison system in India and the provision of training and employment within the jail premises. The jail industries serve the dual role of production and training units for convicts and equip them with the necessary skills to help them earn wages as their source of livelihood for the present as well as to secure their future.
Inter-organizational collaboration in this case has the potential to provide the much-needed impetus by offering a much larger number of tasks required to engage all convicts. The case highlights the challenges faced by jail authorities in the absence of sufficient tasks versus the increasing number of convicts, and the dilemma and scepticism of businesses in recruiting from prisons. It also leads to the innovative and socially responsible aspect of training and recruitment in organizations through initiatives at the Yerwada and Kolhapur Central jails in Maharashtra, India.
Sonal Shree, Yogesh Brahmankar, Ardhendu Shekhar Singh
