New Delhi: Nineteen inmates of Tihar Prisons were selected by different companies in a campus placement conducted today inside the jail premises and offered pay packages ranging from Rs 78,000 to over Rs 5 lakh annually. Fourteen companies including Agarwal Packers and Movers, Relaxo footwear, Frontline Group, ABC constructions, Adecco Consultant, Ashwords Network and Jyoti Portfolio Limited participated in the selection process, the fifth in the past three years. With this, the total count of inmates hired by different industries in different positions rose to 357. The brain child of a former jail superintendent M K Dwivedi, the first recruitment drive was conducted on February 25, 2010. "Today we conducted the fifth campus placement here. For the first time, this hiring was held for convicts. A total of 24 of them appeared for interview, which saw many rounds. Eventually, 19 were selected," said Sunil Gupta, spokesperson of Tihar Prisons said. "Among them, Sanjay was selected as a business development officer by a company named Premier Shield and offered an annual package of over Rs 5 lakh," he said. According to Gupta, those selected are likely to finish their jail terms in another six months time. Some of the convicts who were selected had professional degrees like MBA and MCA, he said. "This selection clearly reflects that people outside have trust on prisoners. All those who have been selected have projected good conduct during their jail terms," Gupta said.