A stint in TN jail helps prisoners put on weight

CHENNAI: Steaming hot upma or pongal,sambhar rice with vegetables, boiled peanuts, dal with ghee and roasted chicken.This is not the menu card of a south Indian restaurant, but food served toinmates of various prisons in Tamil Nadu.No wonder, a jail stint in the state leaves prisoners with an expanded waistline or even a pot-belly, contrary to the general perception that jailbirds look haggard or emaciated.Nearly 90% of prisoners in the state who were freed during 2007-08 have gone home with increased weight, according to the latest data released by the Department of Statistics and Economics. Interestingly, not even a single prisoner lost weight during his/her stay in jail, going by the details given.Of the 4,796 prisoners released, 4,231 people, including 241women, had gained weight varying from 1 kg to 3 kg, while there was no change inthe weight of the rest. Of the prisoners released during 2006-07, 115 had gainedover 5 kg, the statistics revealed.“What the prisoners in TNget is a balanced diet of the sort they may not get outside,’’ saidV Kannadasan, special public prosecutor for the Human Rights Court. “Theyare served bed-time tea at 6 am, followed by upma or pongal or gruel forbreakfast. At noon, they are served 650 gm of rice with sambhar, butter milk andvegetables, which is followed by boiled peanuts in the evening. Dinner consistsof 550 gm of rice with sambhar. For those advised a wheat diet by doctors,chappatis and dal are served,’’ he added.Sundays arespecial as the prisoners are served 150 gm of chicken. While those in‘A’ class cells get to relish the non-vegetarian dish thrice a week,vegetarians are served dal with ghee.Should the bulging waistline ofprisoners be attributed to nutritious food or lack of physical activity?“We ensure that their diet has a proper mix of nutrition to meet calorificrequirements. To improve the quality of commodities, we’ve dispensed withthe contract system and started procuring food items from the publicdistribution system,’’ said R Natraj, DGP (fire and rescueservices).However, some activists disagree with the official theory,saying that the “obesity’’ of prisoners was due to a lack ofphysical activity. “The weight gain among prisoners does not indicate thatthey are being given nutritious food. People above 40 years are generally proneto gaining weight and hence it cannot be taken as an indicator of theirwell-being,’’ said lawyer-activist Sudha Ramalingam.PPugazhenthi, director, Prisoners Rights Forum, said unlike earlier times,prisoners were not being given physical work, which not only kept them fit butalso fetched them remuneration.