Cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu may well be the most famous inmate of the Patiala prison. But less than a week after he was moved to the facility, Sidhu is already at work.
Sidhu had surrendered last week after the Supreme Court sentenced him to one-year imprisonment in a road rage case from 1988, which resulted in the death of a person.
Reports said Sidhu is working as a clerk. The Tribune reported Sidhu had been assigned the job title of 'assistant'.
The Tribune quoted jail officials as saying Sidhu had started working since Tuesday. “It has been learnt that Sidhu will do his new job in two shifts: 9am to 12pm and 3pm to 5pm. Sidhu will be getting a three-hour break between the two working shifts. As per the jail rules, Sidhu will first be trained for three months without pay. Thereafter, he will be classified as an unskilled, semi-skilled or skilled prisoner and will start earning anywhere between Rs 30 and Rs 90 depending on his earned category,” The Tribune reported.
The publication added Sidhu would be earning around Rs 40 daily, with the money being credited to his account.
NDTV reported that Sidhu's work as a clerk would involve learning “how to brief lengthy court judgments and compile jail records”. NDTV added that Sidhu would be working from his jail cell due to security concerns.
Earlier this week, a court permitted Sidhu to have a special meal plan suggested by doctors. Sidhu's counsel had claimed he could not consume wheat, sugar, maida and some other food items.
The 58-year-old Congress leader suffers from medical conditions like embolism and has a liver ailment. In 2015, Sidhu had also undergone treatment for acute deep vein thrombosis (DVT) at a hospital in Delhi.
