Vadodara Central Jail’s inmates  on Wednesday launched their own radio station, in a bid to rehabilitate and reformate the prisoners and to help them express their creative side, officials said.

As many as 1,500 prisoners are lodged in the jail and a few of them will be trained to become radio jockeys as part of this internal 'Radio Prison' service, they said. This is the fourth prison in Gujarat to launch such a radio service.

Authorities have set up a studio within the jail premises and over 60 speakers are installed across different barracks for prisoners to listen to the radio service, Vadodara Central Jail's prisoner welfare officer Mahesh Rathod told. ''The main advantage of this service is that we shall be able to educate and spread awareness about various issues among the prisoners in a better way,'' he said.

Gujarat's Inspector General of Prisons K L N Rao launched the service at the central jail here on Wednesday and said it will serve as a multi-level information and entertainment platform for jail inmates.

''Prisoners can also explore the platform to express themselves creatively through story-telling. They will receive health bulletins and information about various legal aspects concerning them from guest speakers,'' Rao said. A few of them will also be trained as radio jockeys, Rathod said.

The Ahmedabad Central Jail was the first to start such a radio service on October 2 last year, on the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. The service was later also started in Rajkot and Surat jails.

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