The jails in Kerala, considered to be among the most prisoner-friendly ones in the country, are in for some impressive sartorial changes. Leaving behind decades-old dressing style, the inmates will be donning more contemporary ones very soon.
While the female inmates will be chucking the white long blouse and mundu, in place since the 1950s, for salwar kameez or house coats, working male inmates will be given T-shirts, bermudas, shorts or pants, instead of the blue colour mundu they wear currently.
"Women in Kerala society no longer wear long blouses and mundu these days. It's an oddity when the prisoners are made to wear them," S. Santhosh, DIG (Prisons), told The WEEK. "These changes are part of mainstreaming the prisoners," he added.
The colour of the dress is yet to be decided.
According to the DIG, there are less than 200 women inmates across all jails in the state. "Getting new dresses for them will not be a huge burden on the exchequer," he said.
On the other hand, there are nearly 8,000 male inmates, of which 2,000 are under rigorous imprisonment and are assigned harder forms of work. "Our inmates work in various capacities in cafeterias and petrol bunks. They all need to wear dresses in tune with the times," he said.
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The jails in Kerala, in fact, are a prisoners' delight with its tempting food menu and one of the most liberal parole policies. It is one of the few states that offer non-vegetarian food to the prisoners. It is also one of the states that also has the highest per prisoner amount —Rs 180 to Rs 300 per day. Most jails have many options for recreation, too.
The government also plans to increase the allowances for feast days—10 in a year—to every prisoner. "Jails are meant to be reformation homes. All these measures are meant to be in that direction," said the DIG.
