These jail cows listen to music, take shower, give lot of milk!

Rajamahendravaram: The Rajamahendravaram Central Prison, which has a glorious history of being the Dutch Fort constructed in 1602 and converted into a jail in 1864 by the British regime, is now back in news for an interesting reason.

The jail had few months back taken up reforms and as a result of which it now has milch cattle which enjoy shower baths and FM radio songs. The milk yield from these cattle is nearly 200 litres a day which is helping in meeting the requirements of the prisoners. DIG Dr I Srinivasa Rao told The Hans India that during the lockdown period, the jail authorities faced many problems to get milk and vegetables for the jail inmates and had to pay high price due to lack of proper transportation.

As a long-term solution to this problem, Rao reclaimed 12 acres of the prison land and got 70 milch cattle, including cows and buffaloes. He also introduced the system of cultivating vegetables. All this began in the month of March. Today, the DIG said, the Central Prison has become self-sufficient in meeting the requirement of milk and vegetables for the in mates. They are able to get 200 litres of milk a day and about 500 kg of vegetables.

In addition to meeting the internal requirement, the prison outlet has been supplying milk and vegetables to the women's jail and nearby sub jails and are earning about Rs 4 to 5 lakh a month, he said. The DIG said, a pond has been dug for the milch cattle and shower bath facility has been provided for them. They are first allowed to get into the pond and later are made to go under the shower. The FM radio facility helps them enjoy the music while giving milk.He said they have also constructed a hut in the prison premises from where he personally supervises the maintenance of the cattle and the farm activities to grow vegetables.