A 36-year-old murder convict, serving life imprisonment in Model jail at Burail, Chandigarh, has been honoured with Tinka Tinka India Award for prisoners in special talent category in Jaipur. The award has been given for the first time to a Burail jail inmate. Advertising O P Mishra, Inspector General (IG) Prisons, said Vasudev’s presence has brought huge difference in the prison kitchen and his contribution to anganwadi is also immense. “The award has given a national-level recognition to the Burail jail and it will motivate other inmates too. He will be felicitated with the award after the certificate reaches here,” he said. As per Burail jail officials, Vasudev was nominated for his extremely dedicated work in the kitchen. The jail authorities said since he was convicted and brought to the prison, he has been looking after the kitchen without taking any leave, even when he falls sick. “He single-handedly cleans around 100 large utensils every day, said an officer. The Tinka Tinka award is given to the jail inmates and prison administrators. On Monday, the award was presented at Central Prison, Jaipur, to 12 inmates and nine administrators across India by Bhupinder Singh, DG Prisons, Rajasthan; A K Maheshwari, DG, BPR&D, Ministry of Home Affairs; and Vartika Nanda, Founder of Tinka Tinka Foundation, a non-government organisation (NGO) working for prison reforms. The awardees are given a certificate, a memento made by inmates and a copy of book Tinka Tinka Madhya Pradesh. Advertising “This award was initiated in 2014 as part of social reforms. It is a movement for bringing in creativity and change in prisons. The aim behind these awards is to encourage the artistic and creative sides of the inmates as well as the prison administrators,” said Nanda. A welfare officer of the Burail jail said that the award is given in three categories – Painting, Special Talent and Awards for Jail Administrators. For the nomination in different categories, names in different categories were sent to the concerned NGO. Out of the eight names sent from Burail jail, only Vasudev was finalised for the award. According to sources, Vasudev had been sentenced to life imprisonment for murder in 2011. A resident of Colony Number 5 (demolished now), Vasudev had murdered his neighbour Mahesh Kumar on March 15, 2011. He was arrested in March itself and on December 15, 2011, he was sentenced imprisonment by the court of Additional District and Sessions Judge V P Sirohi. He was also slapped with a fine of Rs 10,000. Vasudev had hit labourer Kumar with an iron rod during a scuffle. The victim later succumbed to his injuries at Government Medical College and Hospital in Sector 32. The brawl took place when Kumar had intervened in a spat going on between Vasudev and his wife. In a fit of rage, Vasudev attacked Kumar with a rod on his head.

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