Sanjay Roy, who was on Monday sentenced to life imprisonment in the RG Kar rape-and-murder case, will have to work at the jail to earn a living.
Roy, who has studied up to Class XII, will be engaged as an “unskilled labourer” whose work may range from gardening and lifting sacks of vegetables to cleaning the common toilets, jail sources said.
Jail officials will decide his assignments depending on his educational qualifications and areas of interest.
According to the jail rules, each unskilled labourer gets a daily wage of ₹100 that gets deposited in his bank account. A skilled labourer’s daily wage is ₹135 and that of a semi-skilled labourer is ₹120.
“The convicts who are educated often get to work as office writers who assist senior officials in typing documents. Plumbing and electrical work are also considered skilled jobs. Unskilled labourers who know cooking may take up the job at the Boro Chowka (general kitchen) or the Chhoto Chowka (medical kitchen) or cell-in-charge. The unskilled labourers usually get the rigorous jobs like that of a gardener, sweeper or godown labourer,” said an officer of the jail department.
Roy, who is lodged in Presidency jail, was a trained boxer before being appointed as a Kolkata Police civic volunteer.
Roy, who has till now been confined to cell number six, will also get a chance to step out of his cell for work.
Jail insiders said Roy broke down after returning to the jail following his sentencing.
An undertrial has no provision to work or earn money inside the jail and has to depend on family support from outside. Roy had around ₹1,400 on him when he was brought to the jail.
There will be restrictions on how Roy spends the money he earns.
“According to the rule, half the monthly salary is considered sada taka (white money), which is expendable and can be used by a convict. The remaining half is referred to as lal taka (red money), which cannot be touched unless in case of an emergency in the family. Even if a convict wants to use a part of his salary saved in his account, he will have to make an application citing the cause. The cause is verified by the police and only after approval, money can be transferred to a relative’s account for use,” said a senior jail official.
The spendable money can be used to pay canteen bills or make phone calls from a booth inside the jail under the surveillance of jail officials. Convicts get to use their money only through bank transactions. No cash is handed to them, officials said.