PRISONERS GROW FAT IN TAMIL NADU JAILS

CHENNAI, Nov 23 (Bernama) -- At least 90 per cent of inmates who spent time
in jails across Tamil Nadu put on weight due to the healthy south Indian meals
served behind bars, the Times of India reported.

Interestingly, none of the prisoners released last year lost weight but
instead most of them had expanded waistlines, it said.

Based on the Department of Statistics and Economics data, prisoners had
gained at least one kilogramme to three kilogrammes by the time they completed
their sentences.

Of the 4,796 prisoners released between 2007 and 2008, 4,231, including 241
women, put on weight, while there was no change in the body weight of the rest
of the inmates.

"What the prisoners in TN (Tamil Nadu) get is a balanced diet of the sort
that they may not get outside. They are served bedtime tea at 6am, followed by
upma or pongal (Indian traditional breakfast made of rice or flour) for
breakfast.

"At noon they are served with 650gm of rice with sambhar, butter milk and
vegetables, which is followed by boiled peanuts in the evening. Dinner consists
of 550gm of rice with sambhar," V. Kannadasan, special public prosecutor for
the Human Rights Court told the newspaper.

On Sundays, prisoners are treated to a special meal comprising 150gm of
chicken.

Besides, chappatis, dal and gee are also on prisons' daily menu.

But human rights activist like P. Pugazhenthi, director of the Prisoners
Rights, disagreed, saying that the weight gain was due to lack of physical
exercises in the cells, reported the Times.
-- BERNAMA