File photo of Lalu Prasad
Officials of the Birsa Munda Central Jail in Ranchi are yet to decide what job they should allot to RJD president Lalu Prasad.
"As per the jail manual, a convict is given about a week time to prepare for appeal against the lower court's verdict. Only after that process is over, the jail superintendent allots work depending upon the skills of a convict," a senior official of the jail said here today.
"So, he (Lalu) has not been allotted any work as yet," the official added. Hinting that Lalu could be attached with literacy campaign work, IG (Prison) Sailendra Bhusan said, "You are aware that literacy campaign is going on in different jails."
Mr Bhusan, however, evaded a direct reply when asked if the RJD president would be given a teacher's job to teach the illiterate prisoners.
"We can't rule that out," he said, but added that no decision has been taken yet.
According to his profile in the Lok Sabha website, the former Bihar chief minister is a "law graduate".
Lalu is currently lodged as an upper division convict in the Birsa Munda Central Jail following his five-year-long Rigorous Imprisonment (RI) awarded by a CBI court in a fodder scam case.
Another former Bihar chief minister Jagannath Mishra, who was awarded four years RI, however, may not have to work inside the jail for the time being due to his ill health.
Mr Mishra is admitted to a hospital soon after being convicted along with Lalu and 43 others by the court of Pravas Kumar Singh on September 30.
Mr Bhusan said, "In jail there are works for which skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled workers are needed. Work is allotted according to the ability of a prisoner. No work is forced on any one."
The health and age of a convict were also taken into consideration before allotting his/her a work.
The official said the jail has also manufacturing units for making blankets, soap and other materials, besides gardening.