From Pani Puris, Ice-cream to Hair Dyes: Prisoners' Mental Health on Mind, Maharashtra Jail Revamped

The Maharashtra prison department recently added 173 new food items, including pani puri and ice cream to the jail canteen catalogue to provide detainees with a mix of essentials and recreational items.

According to TOI, times including chaat masala, pickles, coconut water, chess boards, oats, coffee powder, Lonavala chikki, sugar-free sweeteners, ice cream, organic fruits, peanut butter, pani puri, art books, colour items, etc have been added to the jail catalogue.

Apart from that, some clothing and grooming items like face washes, hair dyes, T-shirts, and Bermuda along with other articles have also been added to the list. To pacify the urge for tobacco, nicotine-brd tablets have also been allowed.

About why the changes are being made in the jail items provided to inmates, ADGP (prison) Amitabh Gupta told TOI that restrictions result in mood swings for most prisoners.

“Maintaining the mental health of the inmates within the set discipline parameters is an important aspect of reforming them. It is likely to have a positive impact on the overall well-being of prisoners by expanding their dietary options,” he told the publication.

Earlier this month, the UP Prison Minister also made some changes to the curriculum of inmates. All prisoners in Uttar Pradesh jails will recite the Hanuman Chalisa, and Sundarkand and learn personality development techniques as part of their curriculum inside the prison.

According to an Aaj Tak report, UP’s Prison Minister Dharmveer Prajapati announced and spearheaded the initiative and for this purpose, books and religious scriptures will be made available to all those who wish to read such texts.

Under this initiative, the inmates will be taught and asked to read Hanuman Chalisa, and Sundarkand as well as other developmental skills like literature and writing which will help shape them into better citizens.