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TL;DR - Tough. Very Tough. Thus, will leave you with great memories and close friends that will usually last a life time.I assume reasonable competence to answer this question. My bio gives the details. The answer, as often, is in the form of a story, a lengthy one I feel. Please do remember as you keep reading,"There is light at the end of the tunnel!!"Here goes Part 1 of the answer.I felt a thud on my back and I suddenly came back to my senses. That slap from behind and the tiny yellow chit of paper with the number 225 emblazoned in red across it, slipped from my hand. There was no space to bend or crouch to search for the slip. It was lost for all eternity. I got panicky and my stomach started to churn. I felt nauseatic and an immense urge to vomit on all the people pushing against me took over. I was cemented securely between a bearded, elephantine, lead-footed, pan munching senior gladiator of probably Mukherjee Nagar on my right and a bespectacled, extremely hairy and insanely sweaty, possible newbie nerd to my left. The uniquely Indian smells of pan masala, sweat and socks blended well in the fiery heat of a Delhi afternoon in May. As I strained my neck to get my nose out of the heady smells, I finally caught a glimpse of Mr. Elangovan, the head priest in this temple called Vajiram and Ravi Coaching Centre.The names of the candidates who successfully got admitted to the Prelims Training Classes conducted by Vajiram and Ravi Coaching Centre were being announced. The tension in the air was palpable. The scene looked as if Mr. Elangovan was throwing food packets from the helicopter and the flood-stricken, one-fortnight-hungry stream of zombies were ready to swallow the packets whole. An hour passed, the list came to an end and my name wasn't called. Collective grief had permeated the scene. Like a bunch of professional wailers, some cries and a lot of curses flew by. Well indeed. The names on that list would be the new celebrities in the bizarre world of UPSC Preparation. It was as if a line had been drawn, a wall had been built, between the haves and the have-nots of Old Rajinder Nagar (often called ORN).Having arrived fresh from south of the Vindhyas, from a reasonably indulgent and doting family, after having lived in the utter opulence and luxury of my own home, having been served with food, rest and sweet words always by the family, I looked at myself and in my mind, I spat on myself. "Look at yourself", I thought, a wrist watch that just broke out of the tremendous density of too many human bodies packed in to a small corner, a crumpled viscose cotton, half sleeved t-shirt, fading away from a bright blue to a lifeless arctic white, a soiled khaki trouser, tearing apart at the pockets (into which a copy of the employment news and 3 editions of Pratiyogita Darpan forcefully shoved in), sandals half worn, half chewn by the rocky rugged land in this theater of war, spectacles, deformed and lamely hanging on my nose and the stench of used socks all around me. My phone rang at that very moment and my sister calls me home for lunch. IP Extension, about 45 minutes of subway ride, costing me 45 rupees and perhaps another thousand calories felt like an inter-galactic space travel experiment through a blackhole-ish space warp zone called Rajiv Chowk Metro Station. I shivered at the idea. But my stomach was grumbling too. I limped off to the Karol Bagh Station, a few light years away.I felt like crying when my sister served me cheese sandwiches. It was 6'o Clock in the morning, the next day. The thoughts of the days struggles came to my mind. I didn't feel like leaving her place. "Though shan't sheath the sword geond the battle". The fear inside amused me and I looked to myself like a cowering mouse that just sighted the shadow of a cat. I was weak, I knew. She wished me for the day and shoved a few crisp notes of 100s into my shirt pocket. I wasn't going to die a lonely death, I assured myself and walked to catch the auto rickshaw to the Preet Vihar Metro Station.The board read "Aggarwal's Property Dealers". The huge plastic panel was covered in dust and the aluminum frame on which this board was mounted swayed left and right like a pendulum. The front face of the office was full-glass, tinted completely black. A small round portion of the door was left un-tinted and I peered in. A man in his late 30s, hair dyed brown, wearing a translucent linen off-white shirt, and hands full of gold rings, looked up at me, scanned my face for 2 nano seconds and shook his head, as if beckoning his personally owned bonded laborer. I pushed the heavy glass door and walked in and the cool, refreshing air from the split air conditioning vent transported me suddenly to my past, a glorious one where I took the air conditioning in my home, clearly, for granted. "Yes?" he asked, gruffly.The place that you live in during the period of your preparation is an important decision to make. I was sitting on the pillion of this paleolithic Hero Honda Splendor, with my legs dangling and scraping the road. I suddenly realized, if there's one thing that ORN is famous for, apart from Coaching, it is fresh, uncontaminated and state-of-the-art cow poop. Wholeheartedly spread all across the roads like Vietnamese land mines, they follow a scientifically predetermined pattern, that of the parabolic sways of a cow's derriere. I quickly pulled my feet up. The scrawny, bearded broker, with graphite coloured teeth sporting Ray-Bans was driving through the tight, cramped lanes of ORN like a video game. As he whizzed past gol-gappe walas, milk booths, stationary shops and parked scooters, I caught a glimpse of the tightly packed and impenetrably cramped houses of ORN.It was as if, the houses were constructed not from the ground upwards, but from left to right. They were as densely packed across the horizontal plane as in the vertical. Claustrophobic was the first word that came to my mind. With a sudden jerk, we stopped.4 rooms were shown at the end of 2 hours, all with attached toilets and with private entry and exit. The going rate was Rs. 8000/- without AC and Rs. 11000/- with AC. Furniture provided is mostly a broken plastic bucket, a ruined, bronze-age vintage pedestal fan and a cotton mattress brimming with bed bugs. He was also offering daily breakfast and dinner parcel service at an extra charge of Rs. 5000/- per month. It is assumed that UPSC aspirants survived on ORNs fresh, crisp and healthy air and a few glasses of water for lunch. Three month's rent as advance and one month's rent as brokerage. I was reminded of a banker uncle that I had met before embarking on the journey to New Delhi. He said, the person who is in real need of a loan in India finds it very difficult to get one. Paperwork, collateral, surety, witnesses, introducers and formalities. A HNWI with a net asset value of a hundred crores, who apparently, is in no need of a loan, will get it within an eye's wink. The situation was similar. I was in need of a job, with no money in my hand and here are 4 offers, precisely to crush and squeeze the godforsaken, desolate, deflated pockets of mine.Part - IIAfter discussing the financial implications of renting out the Playboy-mansion-esque room with my sister, I called up the broker and informed him of my acceptance to occupy the AC Room with pink paints and mosaic flooring in the bathroom. The only downside was the Indian commode. It was ages since I had used one. I trusted the lubrication of my knee joints to relieve me in the mornings because replacing the poop-ware with a Western commode would require a dozen more phone calls to the broker and a few more days, shelter-less in the unrelenting Delhi heat. I expected the broker to allow me to occupy the room only after a day or two after he gets the room cleaned and disinfected. I was wrong. The moment I handed the advance, the iron, heavily rusted and thoroughly abused key was shoved in my hand. The key felt heavier than it looked. It felt as if the souls of the dead aspirations of all the innocent candidates who had lived in the room were locked up in this key. It felt like an evil token subjected to a lot of emotional and psychological black magic. My mind started to play games. The dark and gloomy shadows of failure started to engulf the entire spaces of my consciousness. With the key tightly clenched in my hand, I walked towards the office building of Vajiram and Ravi Coaching Centre.It was 5 PM and Mr Elangovan had just arrived, perhaps after a satisfying siesta at home. The 3 PM session had just completed and the students had left. The 5 PM Session had just begun and the students were sitting inside the classrooms. So, the lobby was mostly empty and Mr Elangovan was quietly rummaging through a huge bundle of papers. A rare and extraordinarily scarce opportunity to pluck a seat in the General Studies class was slowly building up in front of my eyes. I knew if I could somehow eke out a hint from Mr. Elangovan about any rejections or any candidates who opted out in the last moment or any absentees in the first few sessions, I have a real chance of sneaking into Vajiram Coaching Classes. The thought sent down a shiver. I tiptoed to his table and caught a glimpse of the sheets of paper that he was immersed in. It was in fact, the list of candidates selected for the General Studies Class. My palms started to sweat at the very real possibility of laying my hands on a seat before I leave the Vajiram Office. I could clearly see occasional thick black permanent-marker drawn circles around candidate names, appearing once every 10 - 15 pages. My heart skipped a beat. What was inconceivable a few minutes back was slowly turning out to be a reality. “Sir, kuch seats khali bache hain kya?”, I blurted. Not even a single strand of hair on Mr. Elangovan’s body moved. He continued to pore through the pages in a completely inert and phlegmatic manner. “Sir?”, I prodded, bit louder and unimaginably anxious. He let out a guttural and thick “Hmmm”. I knew that it was now only a matter of my capacity to cry and convince this man to somehow throw a life jacket at this stranded passenger about to drown in the shark-infested waters of ORN. I almost kneeled beside him and in a few minutes recounted all the vagaries and vexations facing me, including my torn khaki trouser and the broken bucket in my room. I was myself shocked at the the deluge of suffering that was detailed by me. It was as if a plastic tube was connected between my mouth and his ears and a high pressure valve was just opened. I would’ve broken the record for the number of ‘Please’ and ‘Sir’ used in a single monologue. The level of groveling and parasitism was unheard and unseen. “Theek Hain Theek Hain, wahan form hai fill karke leke aao”. Delirium.It was 06:30 AM the next morning. The breakfast box had arrived as per the promise of the broker. The thud of the box against the door of my room proved to be loud enough to wake me up along with the dogs that usually slept in the basement of our apartment. It was 3 idlis with chutney.The idlis were as soft as freshly mined slabs of granite. And the chutney could put the Arabian Sea to shame in terms of salt content. Accompanying these delicacies was a packet of lime pickle. It was hard to interpret the intentions of the person who packed the breakfast. To prevent any diarrheal attacks on Day 1, I left the pickle in the box itself as I swallowed the boulders of idli and the wads of chutney. But then I was reminded of the lunch that was awaiting me, crisp air and fresh water of ORN. Licking into the pouch of lime pickle along with generous portions of air and water wasn’t a bad idea after all. I shoved the packet under the pillow and left the room. With the newly achieved status of Student-at-the-most-prestigious-Civil-Services-coaching-centre, I walked down the stairs of my room with the confidence of a lion and the stride of a cheetah.As I crossed the street on to the main Bada Bazaar Marg, the first perceptions of competition hit me. And they hit me hard. I saw scores and dozens of immaculately dressed youngsters, with satchels full of bags, earphones plugged, heads buried in the day’s newspaper, walking away with a Time-Squaresque sense of urgency towards the nerve centre of ORN. As I was drawn into this mass of aspirants, it was quite unnerving. Everyone was in a hurry. A hurry to accomplish, a hurry to accumulate, a hurry to take a small step in the multi-million mile marathon called UPSC. No one really cared about anything on the road. It was almost a zombie-ish march from your room to the Citadel, all the while searching for newer facts, a fresher perspective and a nobler vision. A sense of being pulled into a whirlpool of scholastic predators took over me. Quite unconsciously, the pace of my walk matched that of the mass of predators. I never knew why. But it looked like the system was beckoning me to fall in line with it’s speed, it’s tone and it’s taste. What if I slowed down? I couldn’t think much. I was already overwhelmed.I reached the Vajiram Square on Bada Bazaar Marg. Just a few yards ahead was Shubham Palace. I could see a swarm of people jostling near the locked gates of Shubham Palace. The view confused me. Each and every one at that gate was already a member of the privileged elite, a student at the premier coaching institute. So why do you need to jostle for a place close to the door? I kept looking and as my watch showed 06:58 AM, a burly, yawning and remarkably unkempt man pushed his way through the predators and unlocked the doors of Shubham Palace. The race had begun.

I started computing ca 1961, and my job in the Air Force starting in 1962 was as a programmer for Air Training Command at Randolph AFB in San Antonio. I entered grad school at the University of Utah ARPA project in 1966.With all due respect to Andrew Silverman’s answer: although there weren’t millions of computers back then, there was more demand than supply for programmers — so anyone with interest and aptitude could definitely get access (you had to go to the computers).Because of the Cold War, a lot of DoD money was being spent on the development of computing, pretty much right after WWII, and especially in the 1950s with the development of the SAGE early warning airplane tracking system. This had started at MIT with Whirlwind ca 1950, and many important early technologies happened on this machine, including: displays, pointing devices, interactive dynamic language, core memory, etc. A lot of engineering was done on these in the SAGE development, and this helped raise all boats.The early 60s also saw a deeper effort to replace punched card accounting machines (PCAM) with computers (this led to more than 14,000 1401 computers being built — and to the way IBM thought about the eventual System 360 in 1964).JCR Licklider started the ARPA Information Processing Techniques Office (IPTO) in 1962, and this agency plus ONR and the Air Force did the bulk of funding for visionary long range projects in computing. IPTO alone funded about 16 large research community efforts spread around the country.The first fruits of ARPA funding can be seen by getting — it’s online — the Sept 1966 special issue on “Information” by Scientific American. This special issue was completely written by the ARPA community, including John McCarthy, Marvin Minsky, Ivan Sutherland, Dave Evans, etc. I cherish this because I first met this community in Nov 1966 as a grad student, and this was a great summary of what they had accomplished in the first 4 years.Today we have a paradox. We have enormous amounts of inexpensive computing power but very few ideas out and about: commercialism has produced a boring low-level orthodoxy and created such a monumental stultifying “normal” that I think it is much harder for youngsters to think about interesting things while being suffocated in “really nothing much at all (but no oxygen either!)”.†In the 60s, there was also a boring low-level orthodoxy — especially IBM — but because of ARPA et al. great ideas not only abounded and were being worked on, but many of the ideas were superior — in absolute, not relative, terms — to most ideas in view today. ††When Congress in 1970 made a huge error and used a too broad brush to recast ARPA, ONR, etc., they threw the baby out with the bathwater and left most of the important computing research of the country to the whims of businesses — most with IBM’s fatal disease — and government agencies — like NSF and the new DARPA — that were much too much under the thumb of Congress.In sum, computing in the 60s had a large super exciting part to it — it was a Grand Romance — that had a big payoff in the 1970s. I had fun as a programmer in the early 60s, and the best time in my life from the middle 60s to the end of the 70s.† There are a very few exceptions today to keep us from being totally gloomy, for example: Bret Victor’s “DynamicLand” is a breath of fresh air full of oxygen and fruitful ideas for a much more exciting and humane future.†† Here are a few personal favorite highlights of advances in computing in the 1960s (many more will have to go unmentioned). Many, but not all, funded by ARPA-IPTO.1960• JCR Licklider “Man-Computer Symbiosis” which started the vision that led to ARPA-IPTO funding and much of the personal computing and networking technology of today.• Algol 60, BNF, and Ned Irons’ “Syntax directed compiling”.1961• The Burroughs B5000 (main designer Bob Barton): a two CPU “higher-level” computer with tag bits on every word, unforgeable references, protective memory management and swapping, parallel processing, and a hardware implementation of a “byte-coded” execution engine tailored for Algol-like languages. A “Simula-machine” several years before Simula, and the first system to implement an operating system completely written in a higher-level language. Can’t be too highly praised.• CTSS/MIT one of the first real interactive time-sharing systems as a “computing utility” for a whole community.• Paul Baran at RAND presents first briefing on the possibilities of packet-switching networks1962• Lisp 1.5, John McCarthy, et al. The very important follow-on from the invention of Lisp (can’t be too highly praised) in the late 50s.• JCR Licklider starts ARPA-IPTO with initial funding to MIT for “Project MAC”. Can’t be too highly praised.• “Sketchpad” by Ivan Sutherland at Lincoln Labs. Not just the invention of interactive computer graphics as we know it today, but with “masters and instances” initiated “object-oriented” representations, and used “constraint solvers” as a very high level programming language. Can’t be too highly praised.• Wes Clark’s LINC at Lincoln Labs — arguably the first personal computer that included all the standard features1963• John McCarthy — Situations, Actions, and Causal Laws — a landmark follow up to the “Advice Taker” paper “Programs With Common Sense”. I believe this is the first introduction of the idea of “labeled states” and “situations” as gatherings of “labeled states”. Can’t be too highly praised.• JOSS at RAND, Cliff Shaw. The first truly well designed interactive programming system for end-users• Thomas Evans, Geometric Analogy Solver — my vote for the top thesis from the incredible first round of “real AI” theses from Marvin Minsky’s students.1964• SRI: Engelbart and English invent “mouse” pointing device• RAND: Tom Ellis et al, invent the RAND Tablet, a truly great pointing device• Simula I converted Algol to the language that served as the model for C++ in the early 80s. A great combination of insights (implemented in 1965, and published in the US in 1966).• Meta II by Val Shorre was a wonderful tiny and powerful self-bootstrapping way to create programming languages, including itself.1965• Ivan Sutherland’s IFIPS paper inventing virtual reality and augmented reality.• Butler Lampson’s first designs and writings about systems design, protection, and inter-process communication fomented by the “Project Genie” time-sharing system (which became the SDS-940, and the computer used by Engelbart for “the mother of all demos” in 1968). Butler can’t be too highly praised.Niklaus Wirth — Euler — was a compact detailed runnable example and model of making a generalization of Algol (kind of Algol meets Lisp as motivated by van Wijngaarten). A great set of ideas to learn from, especially if his syntax apparatus was replaced by e.g. Meta-II-in-Euler. Used a small interpretive virtual byte-coded machine modeled after the earlier B5000 hardware.1966• Gab Groner’s great gesture and hand drawn character recognition system at RAND, using the RAND tablet.1967• Dave Evans, Gordon Romney, et al, with breakthrough by John Warnock, University of Utah ARPA Project — Invention of modern continuous tone 3D graphics1968• Doug Engelbart, Bill English, Jeff Rulifson et al — “the mother of all demos” showing the public an elevated rich example of many facets of “personal computing”, idea linking, collaborative simultaneous creating, etc., from a cosmic vision that has largely been lost today. The overall vision and effort can’t be too highly praised.• Ivan Sutherland, Bob Sproull, Chuck Seitz et al. — VR and AV for the first time• Tom Ellis, et al. — The GRAIL System — the first completely pen-based system, recognizing drawings and text to make hyperlinked simulations, etc. A landmark in “intimate computing” and user interface design.• Ned Irons — IMP — the first really workable and convincing most easily fully-extensible language1969• Pat Winston — Learning Structural Descriptions From Examples. This thesis was published in 1970, but the work was done in the late 60s. A truly wonderful piece of work that creates a generalized theory of analogy and representation that was motivated by the previous work of Tom Evans, but breaks new ground and extends the range of ideas into programming languages.• Carl Hewitt — PLANNER — both the spiritual and an actual parent of Prolog and many other inference systems to come that were also programming languages.• Dave Fisher — A Control Definition Language — also published in 1970 but done in the late 60s. This was a powerful comprehensive look at extensible languages — especially with regard to making mechanisms to “manipulate time” using Lisp-like kernel metaprogramming.• Nicholas Negroponte — The Architecture Machine (MIT Press) — published as a book in 1970, but work done in the 60s. By far the best account of the longer future that involved computers. Partly because Nicholas trained as an architect, and partly from his larger take on what was around him, this was the deepest synthesis and look-ahead at profound future possibilities. Can’t be too highly praised: just multiple meanings of the dedication alone can be pondered fruitfully for a long time “To the first machine that can appreciate the gesture”.• ARPA Community — design and building of ARPAnet and first transmissions. Prime movers were Bob Taylor, Larry Roberts, Wes Clark, Frank Hart, et al.<more to come>

I think I can answer this question to some extent. I can’t compare with other states exactly as I am unaware how things work in other states. But can try explaining things working in Kerala Jails.My experience with jail comes from 3 main accounts.In my current profile, our firm is working with various NGOs in financing and technical guidance. A few NGOs registered with us, are into training and supporting prisoners as well as their families. We are constantly evaluating and auditing various reports and presentations they make.One of my relatives worked in Viyur Central Jail as Chief Welfare officer before he retired 2 years back. So I understand a lot of conditions prevailing in jails of Kerala.Personally visited 2 Jail facilities recently to evaluate and study the impact and effectiveness of various training programs provided NGOs supported by us.Like across India, Kerala has a 3 tier Jail systemSubjail/Special Sub Jails:- Mainly to house under-trials/unconvicted prisoners during their remand period either for their personal safety or for smooth conduct of investigation etc. Special Subjails were constituted to house undertrials whose remand period has extended beyond the mandatory 90 days period as well as those convicted for petty crimes whose sentences are less than 90 days/3 months.District Jail: Primary purpose of District jail is to house convicted criminals whose sentences are less than 6 months. Under-trials of sensational cases and those classified as sensitive are moved to this prison. These jails are located in District HQ of each districtCentral Jail: To house all regular convicted prisoners. Under-trials of political cases, key sensational cases like those related to terrorism or similar, those who are classified into highly sensitive as well as under-trial prisoners related to white-collars whose cases are pending in specialized economic courts etc are kept here. There are 3 main jails- Trivandrum, Thrissur, and Kannur.Then there are Open-Jails to house prisoners who are towards the last phase of their sentence and those who have the good track record so as to help them to rehabilitate faster with society.Traditionally, Kerala Jails faced almost all similar issues as like jails elsewhere in India. In 2010, then the ruling LDF Government overhauled the prison system completely. The thrust of these prison reforms was more focused for Central/District jails, hence I will be focused these two sectors with a clear admission that there are much more issues still prevailing for remand prisoners living in Subjails/special sub-jails.One key change which happened was altering the identity of officials working in Prison. Previously they were called Wardens and expected to be like whip-masters in circus camps. The older job concept for wardens was to tame and punish prisoners. This has been changed the job identity itself changed to a correctional officer. As correctional officers, their job concept is now focused on helping prisoners to overcome their habits and assisting in rehabilitation. This is much strongly felt in the attitude of much of younger generation officers appointed and many of senior officials are constantly trained to get into the new thought process.Bldgs/facilityMuch of Central jails and district jails operate in the traditional facility built in Monarchy/British era. Due to which, jail facility as such isn’t comparable to any modern facility and much of the cells are dark, dungeon kind with a dingy atmosphere. However many jails have newer blocks which are designed as spacious, well ventilated etc. One key change is replacing walls with bars in the front side, so as to allow maximum ventilation and exposure to outside.Kerala’s first disabled-friendly jail opened in PalakkadMost of newer Prison bldgs built post-2014 are designed as Disabled friendly with ramp facilities as well as tactile tiles for blind and specially designed toilets etc.One notable change is the introduction of fans in all Jail cells in Central/District jails which previously wasn’t allowed. So as all the 3 central jails now have produces 1/3rd of their total energy requirements from Solar power. Due to the installation of solar panels, prisoners also now able to access hot water from solar heaters in bathrooms.Dressing/groomingJail uniform for men- Pic taken during a personality development class in Trivandrum JailUniforms are still the same as it used to be in olden days. Male prisoners get a pair of white mundu, shirt, and undergarments while females get similar mundu, long blouse with undergarments. All of them gets a towel, a bedsheet, a blanket etc.Hygiene is strictly followed by the compulsory washing of clothes on a daily basis. Prisoners get a soap bar, a brush, a paste gel (normally one per cell depending upon numbers), hair oil and a comb. Women prisoners do get sanitary napkins (which is sponsored by HLL Lifecare). In Trivandrum, they have a vending machine for napkins (not sure about other places).For men to shave, there are designated inmates as barbers who do shave for others. Though the rule limits shaving once in a week, it's mostly a daily or once in two-day matter. Men can’t grow their beards unless approved by Jail authorities, mostly limited on religious/medical grounds.Many older concepts of shaving head/moustache upon admission etc were removed though long hair won’t be permitted. A monthly haircut is mandatory for all male prisoners. No haircuts as such for women.FoodA typical jail food served to inmatesOne key area improved is Food. The much dreaded Godamunda (Steamed Wheat Dough Balls which is extremely bland) is completely removed.Much of Jail food has been standardized and redeveloped to much nutritious and balanced meal. The focus is much on diversity and proper meals. Infact much of the food on Jail menu has attracted eyebrows of people outside citing inmates gets more food options than in many smaller restaurants outside. Of course, the food may not be tasty, but there are better ways to ensure that each prisoner gets the minimum quantity of nutrition. Various NGOs bodies and human rights organization often conduct random checks and quality assessment to ensure the food served has requisite nutrition as proposed in the manual. Much reports indicated, there is an extremely low rate of corruption when comes to food handling by prison authorities in Kerala when compared to other states.The following is the official regular menu for 3 Central Jails of KeralaApart from normal days foods, Chicken Biriyani (with boiled eggs) is served during major Non-Hindu festivities like Eid, Christmas, Easter etc while a full Kerala Sadya being offered for Onam, Vishu etc. The menu is near similar for District jails and slightly lesser in items for Subjails.Prisoners with special needs or medical issues have their own independent menu. There are a full-time dietitian and nutritionist appointed in Central Jails and part-time dietitians in District jails.Chapati-mutton curry, rice-aviyal & theeyal: Kerala’s jail inmates relish healthy foodOne interesting part is that Kerala spends the highest amount for food for the prisoner on per capita basis, in India. The state spends Rs 120 per day per prisoner for the food while Delhi spends only Rs 31.31 per day per prisoner or Maharashtra spends only Rs 32 per day per prisoner.Due to this factor, prisoners often gain weight in Kerala jails, something unusual in other jails in IndiaConvicted criminal Govindaswamy in the sensational Soumaya Murder case. Left pic when he was arrested and right pic when he was brought to court after 4 years in prison. Often this pic is used by many to criticize the Jail department for its concept of well-feeding all its convicts.SportsThe debut of Kerala Jail Cricket team against visiting team of Sri Lanka Prisons Department’s official teamAll 3 Central Jails in Kerala have football court apart from an open field to play cricket. Every block features a volleyball court or badminton facility as Sundays afternoons are regularly used to practice volleyball within the blockRecently a Jail Cricket team was formed with professional training and support from Kerala Cricket Association. The team made its debut recently when they played against Sri Lanka Prison Officers team in Trivandrum.LibraryKerala has a huge thrust on library movement across the state. The same thrust is seen in Prisons too. Trivandrum Central Jail’s library is one of the oldest in the state, started in 1900s with more than 1000 reference books and nearly 5K books on various topics. Apart from its own collection, Trivandrum Jail has a tie-up with State Central Public Library to arrange books on a rental when prisoners make a request.Both other prisons, Kannur and Thrissur have huge libraries. Most of the libraries in the state do donate older copies of their books to jails, once they get newer versions. In addition, organizations are involved in donating books, which includes popular literary organizations like Manorama, DC Books etc. Many district jails have a tie-up with local libraries for books on the rental scheme.Last year, Trivandrum jail rolled out an E-library scheme where prisoners can read books in digital format through Amazon Kindle readers so as they have access to nearly 15,000 works. This service will be extended to all central jails and district jails of Kerala.E-library for inmates at Kerala jailPrisoners also can learn and earn degrees/post graduation in social/business areas through distant education program of IGNOU. Occasionally IGNOU faculty also conduct Sunday classes for prisoners of Central jails in helping to clear doubts and prepare for examinations. There is a special short term parole called Study Leave for those who enrolled for higher education to attend examinations or pre-exam training programs etc (subjected to track record of the prisoner).Inauguration of Mandatory literacy training program.There is a mandatory literacy and primary class training (upto 9th standard) for all prisoners who haven’t passed matriculation which is compulsory. The declared goal of Government is 100% literacy in Kerala Jails.Fine Arts TrainingMany jails are also into training prisoners into fine arts, thus to make them more creative in nature. The Jail department has its own prisoner music bands as well as a traditional Chenda (Drum school) training several prisoners into professional Chenda experts.Chenda classes in Thrissur JailJail Music bands performing its concert in TrivandrumShort film made by prisoners as part of Film Training course provided to them.Personality development courseYoga training for PrisonersEvery district Jail and central jails in Kerala have mandatory annual personality development workshop. In addition, almost all jails have mandatory Yoga training.Training and rehabilitationMaybe, it's in this area, Kerala’s jails find much better and professional than many other jails across India. Kerala’s Jail Industry model, as developed since 2010, now rivals almost equal to Tihar Jail which has set an exemplary record in this field.Prior to 2010, most of the jail works are mundane in nature. It served no purpose for anyone. Since penal provisions have a concept of hard labor as envisioned in the colonial era, most of the prisoners were into unproductive labor like chipping stones or cutting wood or some light furniture parts making etc which never helped both prisoners or prison.By 2010, many such jobs came to an end. A proper modern prison industry model was put forward by then the DG-Prisons Alexander Jacob.The first venture was into food production. Since prison labour was cheap, he proposed developing ready-to-eat food products that can be sold public at competitive rates. A wide range of products like cooked chappatis/rotis, egg curries, chicken curry etc was sold at rock bottom prices which fuelled interest of the public in a big way. A Single roti/chappati costs only Rs 2 (while in hotels, it cost Rs 5–10), while an egg/vegetable curry priced at Rs 20, while Chicken /Mutton curry for Rs 50 or Kebabs/chilly Chicken/biryanis etc for Rs 80. These all are sold in kiosks established in front of Jail gates operated by Prison staff.Packed kits of ready-to-eat food products under the brand- Food for FreedomThis venture clicked so well across all jails, that a brand itself born out of it- Food for Freedom (FF) and people queue up in front of jails to buy food which is of high-grade quality with no use of any preservatives or harmful substances like Ajinomoto etc. The food is also used to support people in distress as during Chennai flood (where Kerala Jails dispatched approx 2 Lakh Rotis and curries to support people in camps) and during recent Kerala floods when Jail department rolled out 20,000 food packets and 50,000 bottled water per day to be air-dropped as well as distributed in various camps.Public ques in front of major jails to purchase food from Jail which is extremely popular nowadaysThe success of selling food impacted prisoners in a big way. They currently earn Rs 150 per day for a cooking+a small share of total profit (translates around 4500–5000 Rs per month) through which they can support their families. Further, this has been extended to remand prisoners in district jail, so as they don’t sit idle inside cells hatching new plans upon release.Buoyed by the success of Jail food sales, a new model has been put forward- Jail Cafe. The first cafe is now opened in Trivandrum, outside the Jail gate which is managed by prisoners instead of Prison staff. They are trained with basic Barista management course as well as other professional Self-service restaurant training. So as it helps them to fastly rehabilitate themselves with the society and adds up their professional experience to join in restaurants/hotel sector upon release. The success of Jail Cafe is now prompting Jail authorities to replicate to other jails.Jail Cafe cum restaurant in Trivandrum managed by prisoners.There is also a new concept of Freedom Parks being successfully rolled out in Thrissur prison called as Freedom park in front of the jail. The area has been redesigned as a family park with multiple options to unwind in evenings and weekends with dedicated kiosks for purchasing jail food. The aim of Jail Park is to remove negative notions about a jail and help public to easily socialize with prisoners and thus helping them to rehabilitate faster upon release in addition to a place to sell food.Jail Park in front of Thrissur Jail is a popular picnic spot for families with fountains, small kids rides, open-air restaurant etc intended to remove negative notion against Prison.Jail department has also tested a new model of off-site food kiosks at busy areas like bus stations, railway stations, government hospitals, IT Parks etc selling packed ready-to-eat food combos like Chappati-Chicken curry for Rs 30 or Beef Biriyani for Rs 60 etc as well as packed mineral water for Rs 10.The first Food Kiosk of Jail department in the busy bus station of Trivandrum Thampanoor, close to Trivandrum Central Railway StationThis model is proposed to be expanded by allowing dependants/relatives of inmates to open a kiosk under franchise model where they invest to open a kiosk that comes with an option of availing subsidized loan from Canara Bank. The project is pending for the government’s final approval and expected to roll out by end of this year.Jail department has already partnered with various agencies to become backend central kitchen for large-scale catering. During ISL Kochi matches, packed food prepared from Jails were sold in the facility. So as during Sabarimala season time, Pathanamthitta jail prepares combo pack of Chappatty-Veg curries to be sold at low rates for Ayyappa pilgrims which served an effective way to keep the prices in restaurants during pilgrim season under control.Recently Open Jails started a new scheme of renting prisoners as cooks for catering agencies as low as Rs 140 per day. These prisoners work as a part-time cook during day hours at specified caterers and thus able to gain career expertise as a professional chef at catering agency which they might continue upon release. Prison department is now proposing to use this a privilege option for prisoners with an excellent track record, so as it motivates them better as they can move of prison during day hours and work actively in society. This also will reduce the social stigmas against them in a big way.BakeryInauguration of first Jail bakery in Thrissur JailBuoyed by success of Jail food, the department has now ventured in bakery sector which is currently operational in Kannur, Thrissur Jails and Kochi district jail rolling out breads, buns, fruit buns etc. In Kannur jail, they started making cake and pastries, chips, biscuits, and sweets like homemade Chocolates, Ladoo, Halwa which are currently sold only to bakeries or large scale party orders. The scheme is planned to extend to all major jails.The food business is highly lucrative for many Kerala jails as they have achieved a monthly revenue of nearly Rs 1 Lakh in many jails and an aggregate profit of Rs 3 crore.Other Jail industryOrganic farming in Kerala JailsFarming is the second major Jail industry. Traditionally farming in jail was strictly for its own subsistence purposes. However post 2015, there is a massive pro-organic farming movement happening in Kerala society and Jail department also joined with that. Jail department has set up vegetable gardens in all its facility that produces excess than whats required for the jails. These organic vegetables are sold regularly to the public at standard market prices without any premium. Jail authorities make it a point to host Onam/Vishu Vegetable market in front of the Jail gates when the demand is higher.Kerala Prison DG R Sreelekha IPS inaugurating fish farmingAs part of diversification, recently they tried out caged fish farming with an experimental trial of freshwater pomfret farms in Subjail-Trivandrum engaging remand prisoners which proved a huge success, which is currently expanded to 4 Subjails in the state and will eventually cover all jails with remand facility. Apart from public sales, one aim is to ensure availability of fish curry meals to remand prisoners to ensure they get better nutritious food than current.And all larger jails have large-scale dairy farms with a tie-up with Milk federations to milk sales. A large-scale professional butchery is also set up inside Viyur for production of cleaned and packed meat for various restaurants in the city.FashionJail Fashion Boutique stored opened by DG Jail- R Sreelekha IPSApparel unit in Kerala JailsThe recent venture of Kerala Jail department is into the Fashion industry with its own common brand- Free Fashionista. The clothing line is into designer wear production as well as operates its own boutique store in Trivandrum. The model primarily works with prisoners being trained in fashion designing and tailoring where they produce its own designs and models, sold both online as well as through its own boutique. Currently, 5 prisons across Kerala are into fashion designing and 120 prisoners being trained with various courses related to fashion designing. They are equally helped by reputed fashion designers and students from apparel schools.A proposal for linking with a mass production textile unit for a corporate brand is underway, which may help more prisoners being professionally trained in this sector.GroomingJail beauty saloon opened for public in Kannur JailAs part of helping prisoners to gain a valuable skill, the prison department introduced a professional men’s saloon for the public in Kannur. 30 prisoners are trained as barbers and makeup professionals, providing all grooming solutions for the public. These air-conditioned saloons operate under a brand- Phoenix Freedom Expressions provides all standard packages as any other leading beauty parlours offers. And its success helped Jail department to expand to Trivandrum and openly shortly in Kochi, Thrissur, and Kollam.FurnitureFurniture making facility operating in Kozhikode Jail supported by RUBCOTraditionally Jail department had carpentry units, primarily making furniture for government offices etc. Recently they have revamped the units to include a facility for toy making (both soft and wooden/plastic) and thus pushing its own range of affordable larger toys for children. The 3 central jails are also producing smaller furniture units like dressing tables, kitchen cabinets, wooden cupboards etc which being sold via small-scale vendors and dealers. Currently, the Jail department is in discussion with RUBCO in reviving some of its unprofitable manufacturing units which were closed due to the shortage of skilled labour. As jail has enough labour force, the plan is to revive one plant of Rubco using prisoners and start production of branded furniture which RUBCO were doing previously.Petrol pumpsA radical idea is proposed and currently in the last phase to use prisoner labour to run petrol pumps in National highways. Indian Oil Corporation has plans to set up 100 petrol stations as company owned in less popular locations, but lack trained attendants who can serve the company on the long-term basis instead of the current system of contract workers. So Jail department came up with an idea of providing the low-risk prisoners who are towards the end of their sentence periods as well as in open jails to work in some of the petrol stations. A full-fledged workshop and supermarket are proposed where jail labour can be specialized in such areas. The proposal got clearance for Kerala govt and currently waiting for IOC’s Central HR Clearance.Jail SupermarketAs jail department produces a wide range of retail products like pickles, ready to eat food, frozen food, chips, bakery items etc apart from toiletries like mosquito coils, agarbattis, toilet cleaners, brushes, liquid soaps etc, a proposal to set up supermarkets near to Jail compound was made. The first Jail supermarket will be opening shortly in Kannur followed by Thrissur.Contract labourKerala Prison department has proposed to provide skilled laborers as contract workforce for various construction projects. Recently an indoor stadium in Kannur was constructed using Prison labour which was constructed for much lower value than estimated due to cheaper labour. However, the project is yet to be cleared due to the government’s apprehensions about security.Recently Kerala Jail department revived the project after Kerala floods. A new proposal was made to make better use of skilled/trained workers for road/bridges and public infrastructure development works for rebuilding much of these facilities which shall be cost-effective. It's learned, the government has a positive stance on using prison labor for such projects now considering the savings they can make.Overall Prison industry is Kerala is highly booming. Kerala ranks top in per capita prisoner output in value-added products in the country. On average, a prisoner in Kerala produces products worth for Rs 30,000. Kerala also ranks top in Best Practices in the Field of Welfare and Rehabilitation of Prison Inmates program of NCRB.Equally, Kerala is also the highest spender for prisoner welfare activities which includes quality healthcare, food, and career development.Saying so, it's not everything perfect in Jails. There are many typical problems Kerala jails equally faces as like anywhere in India. The most serious being over-crowding.Still within all that limitations, Kerala has successfully able to redefine the model to more correctional and training facility, that too spread across the state instead of limiting to one or two facilities unlike other states.Jail is definitely not a desirable place to go in. But definitely, the place shouldn’t be a living hell, rather a facility to help those who once slipped or erred in their life to prepare for their future. In that area, Kerala jails are well performing.