Tripura converts old jail into women-run market

Agartala: North Tripura officials are gutting a vacant jail to build a business hub. The state is pouring 1.01 crore rupees into the former Dharmanagar sub-divisional prison to create Juri Haat. This integrated marketplace will serve women-led self-help groups. It aims to push local entrepreneurship and community trade.

The facility features a coffee house and a restaurant. It provides dedicated shop space for handcrafted goods. A Cluster Level Federation will manage the site. This allows members from all eight blocks in the district to sell their wares under one roof.

District Magistrate Chandni Chandran pushed the plan to use the site. The Tripura Rural Livelihood Mission signed off on the project. "We have proposed to use the abandoned sub-divisional jail at Dharmanagar by setting up a marketplace, and the TRLM authority accepted our proposal. Renovation work has already begun, and the facilities are expected to open before Durga Puja," Chandran said.

The old jail sat empty since May 2022. Prisoners moved to a modern facility on the outskirts of town. Sub-Divisional Magistrate Debjani Chowdhury noted that the project puts the unused state property to work. Workers have finished over 90 per cent of the renovations. The marketplace opens its doors to the public before the Durga Puja festival.