MOSCOW, May 25 (RAPSI) – Parliament member Alexander Khinshtein proposes broadening job opportunities to prisoners to allow them working outside prison facilities, Kommersant newspaper reported on Monday.

Under current law, prisoners in Russia are allowed to work inside prison walls.

The bill would affect inmates of penal colony settlements and those sentenced to community service. That's about 40,000 inmates, Kommersant reported, citing data provided by prison authorities.

Under another bill, mini-prison colonies are to be established close to inmates’ employment sites “for purposes of their labor-based adaptation.”

“For example, companies that are willing to employ convicts and have a hostel can offer them lodging if they are equipped appropriately and guarded by penal service officers,” Khinshtein told Kommersant.