HYDERABAD: How often have you walked out from a spa cursing the same as waste of time and money? Now, denizens of Hyderabad could avail some Ayurvedic detox and stress reduction therapies at the hands of convicts at Chanchalguda Central Prison. Yes, you heard it right!
Prisoners will do an oil massage at half the market price for the general public as the Telangana State Prisons Department would soon start its spa and nature cure treatment centre at the State Institute of Correctional Administration (SICA) premises adjoining the central prison.
A first-of-its-kind in the country, the department hopes to get the spa and nature cure centre operational by June. Many famous personalities, such as Satyam’s B Ramalinga Raju, former minister of Karnataka Gali Janardhan Reddy, YSRC chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and Bollywood actress Monica Bedi were earlier jailed here for several months.
The aim, according to the Director General (Prisons) of Telangana Vinoy Kumar Singh, is to create a wellness centre at the SICA, where trainees feel no pressure of training. Singh said, the free of cost wellness treatment for trainees would encourage them to come forward voluntarily for the 15-day training programme. The larger goal for him is reformation of the prison administration and he believes once the wardens and jailers are happy, half the work for him is done.
The centre would also provide training to prisoners, who could in turn earn some money during their prison term as well as start their own spa post release. For the purpose, initially, the department would be utilising an area measuring 300 sq ft on the SICA premises, which is currently lying vacant. “We are getting the special oil massage tables, glass enclosures, and bathrooms etc. The basic treatment would be an hour long Ayurvedic oil massage and steam bath. We will get an Ayurvedic doctor at the centre and based on his suggestions, rest of the treatment would be carried out,” said Singh.
The programme would initially be started as training-cum-treatment centre. The department has entered into a tie-up with the city based Kapil Ayurveda Chikitsalayam for training prisoners. ‘’We already have three prisoners with know-how on the subject. We will give them additional training and based on the response, we will get more prisoners on the job. They will earn about Rs 70-Rs 100 per day,” said Singh.
While the spa and nature cure treatment would be free for trainees at the SICA, general public would be charged Rs 400 and prison staff would be charged Rs 150.