PUNE: The prison departments from multiple states in the country inaugurated a sports training initiative with the government oil distributor Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) for inmates on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti on Saturday. Yerawada Central Jail, the only prison that participated in the initial phase of the initiative from Maharashtra, announced 60 players who will train with three coaches of IOCL next month.

The three sports include chess, carrom and volleyball with 20 players each. Carrom coach will be Yogesh Pardeshi (46), a three-time world champion, and chess coach will be Eesha Karavade (33), the 2005 woman grandmaster.

The initiative, however, has not been introduced in the women’s prison of Yerawada. West Bengal’s Alipore Women’s Correctional Home was one of the few jails which launched the initiative for women.

“As per the Bombay High Court directive, men – even coaches – cannot be allowed inside the women’s prison. We have asked for female coaches. Once we get them, the coaching will begin there as well,” said Atulchandra Kulkarni, additional director general of police (ADGP) for Maharashtra Prisons.

“We will provide the equipment, instalation and coaching. We had proposed a three-month programme. So far, we have received information for one month. The schedule will be provided by the jail administration as per the security protocol,” said Rajesh Jadhav, general manager, human resource, IOCL.

The coaches that work with IOCL are players who represented the country. IOCL holds annual training for children in Konkan, Maharashtra which provides a hands-on experience in coaching for the players.

“There are three levels – beginner, mid-level, and professional. The beginner and mid-level coaching is done by others whom I train. I train the professional level players. These players are generally under 14 or under 18 as these trainings are held with students of either schools or junior colleges that approach IOCL,” said Pardeshi.

When asked about the difference between the training strategy for training children and jail inmates, the coaches had varied strategies.

“I have been teaching with IOCL for 17-18 years. From experience, now I know who has the aptitude for it when I see them play. We have now been given a name of the 20 players, I hope they turn into players,” said Pardeshi.

“I have not coached much. But looking at it from an outside perspective, they are adults and with very little distraction inside the jail. There are multiple distractions and commitments from outside. So, I think that maybe it will be easier to concentrate and learn,” said Karavade.

Shrikant Madhav Vaidya, chairman, IOCL and ADGP of various states’ prison departments, including ADGP Kulkarni of Maharashtra and Anirban Ghosh of IOCL attended the inaugural event.