UP: Rakhi stalls set up in Gorakhpur jail to sell ‘Rakhi’ prepared by women prisoners on Raksha Bandhan

Gorakhpur (Uttar Pradesh) [India], August 30 (ANI): On the occasion of Raksha Bandhan, ‘Rakhi’ stalls were set up on Wednesday at the district Jail in Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur to sell those prepared by women prisoners.  The women prisioners have recieved training to make these Rakhis from a local NGO. The women have used various handicraft items to make these Rakshis that have been put up in these stalls.

The Rakhis are priced between Rs 20 and Rs 50. The proceeding from the sale of the Rakhis will be given to the women prisioners who made them. Every year several men come to the jail on the occassion of Raksha Bandhan to get the Rakhi tied from their sistors imprisoned there.  The Jail authority has made special arrangements to facilitate this meeting on Raksha Bandhan.  Gorakhpur police officials were seen inspecting the stalls. 

Meanwhile, the festival was celebrated with fanfare in Jammu and Kashmir’s Udhampur district as school girls tied Rakhi on the wrists of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Jawans.  Border Security Force (BSF) Jawans celebrated Raksha Bandhan with school children in the Samba district of Jammu and Kashmir.  The central government on Tuesday announced a reduction in the price of domestic cooking gas by Rs 200 on the eve of Raksha Bandhan. Rakhsha Bandhan is a festival celebrating the bond between a brother and a sister.