The idea of the project, already approved by the local authorities of Calabria, is that for each book read, the prison term of convicts will be reduced. In such a simple way, the initiators expect both bandits to enrich themselves spiritually and ease the problem of overcrowding in prisons.
The book will be able to reduce the prison term. Reading in the camera will now probably become not just a way to brighten up leisure time, allowing you not to go crazy with boredom, but also by reducing the days of imprisonment. The bill, proposed by Mario Caligiuri, people's assessor of culture, has already been praised by the Calabrian Regional Executive Committee. Now he will be considered in the Council of Ministers, and then, if approved, then in the Parliament.
The aim of the project is to popularize reading in prisons, while at the same time providing certain “benefits” to reading people when serving their sentences. By reading books in cells, prisoners will have the opportunity to reduce the prison term by 3 days for each work they read. True, there is a limitation: the maximum stipulated reduction of the term is 48 days per year, which corresponds to sixteen books read. And so that the prisoners do not cheat, they will be monitored by prison teachers and regularly examine the "wards" for the subject of the plot. Also, according to the Italian bill, only prisoners sentenced to more than six months in prison will be allowed to take the opportunity to reduce their sentences.
“Reading is an extraordinary antidote to the feeling of need and discomfort. It contributes to the development of consciousness and social and personal liberation,” explains assessor Kalijuri. However, he was not the first to invent such an original move. The idea, approved by the authorities of Calabria, has already been tested in practice in Brazil. Project Reembolso atraves da leitura (Payout through reading) there yielded excellent results.
It should be noted that the idea of improving the level of culture in prisons will allow early release of prisoners serving short sentences for not very serious crimes. Such a kind of pardon will enable overcrowded Italian prisons to "breathe more freely." After all, according to the Council of Europe, Italian prisons rank second in Europe for overcrowding. According to statistics, their workload is 145 people per 100 places provided. More only in Serbia: 160 prisoners per 100 places. It is also interesting that 36% of all Italian prisoners are foreigners - this is the highest figure among the 47 countries that make up the Council of Europe.
"But the main goal of the project is to popularize reading and increase the number of readers," Kaliguri repeated.
