‘Body Is Trapped, Mind Is Free’: IGNOU Launches Phone-In Radio Counselling To Help Nagpur Central Jail Prisoners

Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) has launched a mediated phone-in radio counselling for prisoners in the Nagpur Central Jail with the aim to help them in their academic studies without compromising jail’s security.

The virtual classroom was inaugurated by Deputy Inspector General (DIG), Prisons (eastern region), Yogesh Desai and IGNOU’s regional director P Sivaswaroop at open varsity’s Gyan Vani radio channel studio, reports Indian Express.

“To circumvent this difficulty, an innovative method has been adopted by IGNOU here. Prisoners will now listen to lessons imparted by teachers on the FM radio channel. They will write their doubts/queries on a paper and give it to the IGNOU’s jail coordinator,” Sivaswaroop was quoted in the report as saying.

While IGNOU offered many academic courses, student-teacher interactive call back facility was not available for prisoners as there is no access to phones in the jail.

The coordinator will call the Gyan Vani studio from the jail office phone and read out the student’s queries. The teacher in the studio will then provide answers on the radio channel, said Sivaswaroop.

Desai said that the ‘phone-in education’ was being started for the first time in Nagpur central jail where IGNOU’s academic courses were being pursued by several prisoners. He said that the programme will also help in “correcting and rehabilitating” the prisoners.