Telangana is making the study of prisons much more practical. This new Jail Museum at SICA in Chanchalguda will allow people to get a ‘life in prison’ experience, and to learn about how prison systems have changed over time. Students and colleges will be able to get a very rare look at how justice works, and it fits neatly with what they’re studying.
The Governor of Telangana, Shiv Pratap Shukla, will open the museum on May tth, and officials tell us it will be the fifth of its kind in the country. It uses exhibits that really pull you in, and learning focused on the process of how things are done – things that are often left out of textbooks.
Why this matters for campuses
It gives students of law, sociology, social work, psychology and public administration a good understanding of the process. Officials say there are rooms with sound and video explaining how prisons work day to day, including visiting times (‘mulakats’), bringing prisoners to court, and what goes on inside the prison.
The idea of ‘Feel the Jail’, and especially the ‘One Day Jail Experience’, gives people a planned introduction to prison food, the conditions in which people live, and their daily routine. This lets students see if what they’ve learned as a theory actually happens in reality, and makes them think about people’s rights, how they are treated with respect, and being helped to change their lives.
For quick academic planning, here are the key study anchors the museum enables:
– Observe evolution from ancient to modern prison systems
– Analyse rehabilitative shift in Telangana Prisons Department
– Study artefacts, shackles and recreated cells
– Understand workflows like mulakats and court productions
Inside the museum: from past to present
Officials have a story that they’ve carefully planned, which takes you from punishments in the past to the way prisons are run now. Paintings and installations relating to the wider picture are shown first, then you look at the exhibits.
A very noticeable part of the museum recreates older prisons, with displays of things used to restrain prisoners – shackles, chains, and metal bands for the feet – and copies of cells from the past. Actual objects from prisons from those times are shown, giving you a real sense of what life was like for people in prison in earlier days.
The ‘One Day Jail Experience’ explained
As part of ‘Feel the Jail’, visitors spend a day doing things as if they were in prison. Officials explain they will be given prison food, shown what the living areas are like, and told what to do and when. It is intended to help people understand from personal experience, but without making being in prison seem exciting.
For groups from colleges and universities, this realistic experience can help them with more thoughtful assignments, discussions about what is right and wrong, and looking at particular cases. It makes them think about how systems based on a particular subject compare to how prisons are run now.
From punitive to rehabilitative: what the exhibits show
Beyond the history of prisons, the museum shows how the Telangana Prisons Department has moved from just punishing people to helping them to correct their behaviour and change their lives, officials say. The museum has displays of work done in prisons, farming, and teaching skills, to show how changing someone’s life is part of the day to day work.
These areas can help students to examine rehabilitation programs and how well they work. They also start a conversation about getting a job, fitting back into society and what prisons need to be able to do to continue to help people to reform.
A project rebuilt and expanded
The museum now takes the place of an older one at the district central jail in Sangareddy, which was built during the time when Britain ruled India. That building fell down a few years ago and had to be closed, according to Soumya Mishra, the Director General of Prisons and Correctional Services in Telangana.
Soumya Mishra says the idea has been brought back and improved with the help of high-ranking officials. What was in the old museum has been moved to SICA and turned into a modern, well organised museum which tells the story of prisons from ancient times to the present.
Opening day and what comes next
Officials have confirmed the Jail Museum and the ‘Jail Anubhavam’ (Feel The Jail) program at SICA will be opening on May 12th. The museum is meant to save the history of prisons and to show how the way prisons are run has changed.
When it is open, teachers will be able to arrange visits to tie in with courses on criminal justice, how the country is run, and social policies. By showing how things are done in a way you can see, the museum will help students learn more in the classroom and have better discussions based on facts.
