Tinka Tinka Foundation: A glimpse of the Impact
Continuous efforts in the jails of Tihar (Delhi), Dasna & Agra (Uttar Pradesh), Dehradun (Uttarakhand), jails of Madhya Pradesh and Haryana have given inmates opportunities to showcase their creativity and exuberance through theme songs,wall arts, writings and jail radios in their respective prisons. Such endeavors have offered inmates a sense of hope and pride attached to their work. These efforts have contributed to uplifting their spirits, gave them a sense of belonging and connected them to nation–building.
2024: 18 March: New Delhi: Delivered a lecture on ‘Implementation of rights of female prisoners and issues relating to the children of female prisoners’ in the one week residential training programme for prison officers ( 18-22 March) organised by National Human Rights Commission (Investigation Division).
2024: Honour: Tinka Tinka Foundation was honoured for its exceptional work towards prisoners’ reform, welfare and behavioural improvement in the jails of Uttar Pradesh, the state with largest prison population in India. The commendation certificate was given by DGP/ ADG, Jail Administration and Correctional Services Shri S.N.Sabat on the occasion of Republic Day, 26th January, 2024.
2023: Tinka Tinka Jail Radio received Laadli Media & Advertising Awards for Gender Sensitivity (13th edition) on 21 October, 2023. This award has been given in the Web-Podcasts category for episode 36 of Tinka Tinka Jail Radio titled – Ambala jail radio and women inmates. The venue for the award ceremony was Rajasthan International Centre.
2023: International Representation: Barcelona, Spain. Tinka Tinka Foundation represented India at the 7th ECREA Radio and Sound Conference, held from September 6th to 8th, 2023, in Barcelona, Spain. Theme of the Conference for this year was ‘Radio and Sound Ecosystems in the Platform Age.’ Dr. Vartika Nanda, founder of Tinka Tinka Foundation, delivered a detailed presentation on “Music on Prison Radio: Impact of Tinka Jail Radio on Inmates in Sonipat Prison, Haryana, India”, in the panel on “Incarcerated sounds: Making radio within the prison ecosystem.”
2022: Laadli Media & Advertising Award for Gender Sensitivity in the Web Podcast (Hindi) category by Population First in 2022 for her Tinka Tinka Jail Radio Podcast, episode 11, titled- Holi and Karnal Jail Radio, conceived and produced by Tinka Tinka Foundation. This podcast broadcast on March 29, 2021. Tinka Tinka Jail Radio podcasts are the only podcasts in India dedicated to prison reforms in India. The award was presented at the 12th Edition of Laadli Awards. Award ceremony was held in Hyderabad on November 2, 2022.
2022: Special Presentation: First round table workshop to improve the prison administration of Haryana was chaired by Chief Minister Shri Manohar Lal Khattar in February 2021, on the occasion of the opening of a new District Jail in Nuh district. The workshop was attended by the jail minister of Haryana, ACS Home, and all the important jail superintendents. Tinka Tinka was given the special opportunity to showcase the progress and impact of jail radio, with special reference to Haryana.
2022: BRUT: International recognition and respect: Brut India telecast an exclusive documentary on the journey and impact of Tinka Jail Radio in District Jail, Panipat in Haryana. It emphasised the utility and relevance of Tinka Jail Radio. Tinka Jail Radio has maintained a substantial distance from the regular media glare, this exclusive documentary gave special recognition to inmates, boosting their morale for continuous constructive engagements.
2022: International Representation: Oslo, Norway: Tinka Tinka Foundation represented India at the first international prison radio conference in Norway in 2022. Dr. Vartika Nanda presented a detailed research paper on “Prison Radio in India with reference to Tinka Jail Radio.” This conference was organised by Prison Radio International.
2022: Tableau: Tinka Tinka India Awards, 2022 found a special mention in the tableau of Central Jail, Bilaspur which was put on display on the occasion of 74th district-level Republic Day celebrations. Tinka Tinka Awards is a unique initiative to recognise and honor the talent and achievements of inmates and the jail staff in prisons. The theme for the year 2022 was ‘Newspapers in Jails’. Till 2021, 126 inmates have received the award in the Painting and Special Mention category while 27 inmates have been chosen for the Tinka Tinka Bandini Awards.
2021: Jail Radio in Haryana: Tinka Tinka Foundation conceived and conceptualised Jail Radio in the prisons of Haryana. Training and execution were divided into 3 phases, which still continue. 7 prisons are successfully running the jail radio. The first prison radio in the state was inaugurated in District Jail, Panipat. It was inaugurated by Jail Minister Shri Ranjit Singh.
2021: National Crime Record Bureau and the Good Practices: National Crime Record Bureau and the Good Practices: Tinka Tinka Library: 2017: Started in 2017, Tinka Tinka library aims at sending books and stationery to prisons in various parts of the country to promote literacy and education amongst inmates. It created its first prison library in District Jail, Panipat in 2021. This library finds a special mention in Prison Statistics of India (PSI), 2021, released by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
2021: BPR&D: Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) took note of the prison radio and an opportunity was given to deliver a detailed talk at the 7th National Conference of Heads of Prisons in New Delhi in 2021. The Conference is usually held biennially to deliberate on the emerging challenges in the field of correctional administration in India. The outcome of the meeting helps in preparing the decadal road map for prisons & correctional services in the country.
2020: Vartika Nanda’s research on the “Study of the condition of women inmates and their children in Indian Prisons and their communication needs with special reference to Uttar Pradesh” under the domain Media, Culture and Society sanctioned by the Indian Council of Social Science Research was evaluated as ‘outstanding’ and recommended for publication by ICSSR.
This report was released in Lucknow by Manoj Kumar Singh (IAS), Chief Secretary, Uttar Pradesh and P. V. Rama Sastry, Director General of Police/Inspector General Prisons, Uttar Pradesh on 23 August, 2024.
2020: Tinka Tinka Jail News: 7 May 2020 to 1 July 2020:51 Stories in 51 Days: For 51 days, from 7 May to 1 July, 2020, Tinka Tinka podcasts showcased the stories of resilience and reformation and also contributions of inmates and prison staff, who joined hands to combat COVID-19. Each episode, of one to three minutes, is a tale that is a brief but powerful glimpse into the remarkable endeavors of the prison community. Tinka Tinka Jail News, a trailblazing YouTube News Channel is the first-ever channel dedicated to sharing stories from the hearts of prisons across India.
2020: Honor: Tinka Tinka Foundation was chosen among 98 organisations for their exemplary work in bringing change in the prison atmosphere in Uttar Pradesh, the largest state in India. These awards were announced by ADG, Jail Administration and Correctional Services Shri Anand Kumar. Tinka Tinka was placed at number 5 in the list released by the state of Uttar Pradesh.
2020: Tinka Tinka Jail Radio Podcasts: These are the only podcasts in India dedicated to prison reforms. Conceived, scripted and voiced by Vartika Nanda, this podcast series was inaugurated by Shri Dnyaneshwer Muley, IFS (Retd) Member, National Human Rights Commission and former Secretary, Government of India.
2020 – present: Music in Jail: More than a dozen songs have been released from different jails since the inception of prison radio in 2020. Sheru from Central Jail, Ambala and Kashish from District Jail, Panipat are all set to bring out their musical albums. Sheru and Kashish became stars overnight with their songs reaching international platforms. Sheru’s song on corona awareness was highly appreciated by the Union Health Minister and this prompted judicial officers to visit and applaud Sheru for his work. The song was released on Tinka Tinka’s YouTube channel on 22 May, 2021 and was heard by a wider audience, both inside and outside the jail.
2019: International Conference: Role of radio in community communication in prisons in India was presented at the International Association for Media and Communication Research, IAMCR in Madrid, Spain in 2019.
2019: As Publisher: Tinka Tinka Foundation entered into the International platform with the National Book Trust, Ministry of Human Resource Development Government of India at the Mexico Book Fair held in 2019 at Guadalajara International Book Fair held between 30th November to 8th December 2019. Tinka Tinka Foundation was included amongst 31 Indian publishers for its titles.
2018: Tinka Tinka Prison Reforms: YouTube Channel: This channel is a pioneer in its field and is dedicated to ushering in a wave of positivity, creativity, and reformation in prisons. It was launched in 2018 with the aim of creating a strong and unified platform to showcase digital content concerning prisons across the country.
2018: Vartika Nanda’s reports and suggestions for improvement of living conditions of women and children in prisons, were taken cognizance of by the Supreme Court of India in 2018 in the matter of suo motu Writ Petition (Civil) no. 406/2013 titled “Re-Inhuman Conditions in 1382 Prisons.” The bench comprising Justice Madan B. Lokur and Justice Deepak Gupta gave direction to the Ministry of Home Affairs to work with the state governments to evolve a uniform policy and look at their rehabilitation as well: Vartika Nanda was asked to prepare a detailed report on the condition of women and children in jails, in coordination with the amicus curiae.
2016: Compendium released at the 5th National Conference of Heads of Prisons of States & UTs on Prison Reforms mentions the book- Tinka Tinka Tihar. This compendium was published by BPR&D, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, in 2016.
2015: National Crime Record Bureau and the Good Practices: A special mention of ‘Tinka Tinka Tihar’ was made in the Prison Statistics of India, 2015 released by NCRB, MHA. The book was included under the section of ‘Good Practices in Jails’.
2015: Tinka Awards: Tinka Tinka Foundation has curated two national awards exclusively for prisons, Tinka Tinka India Awards and Tinka Tinka Bandini Awards. These are the only awards that are solely dedicated to inmates and jail staff. These are aimed at encouraging creative skills and humanitarian work among inmates and the jail staff.
