Hyderabad: Hyderabad’s Chanchalguda Central Prison has launched a prison tourism initiative titled ‘Jail Anubhavam’ or ‘Feel the Jail’, allowing ordinary citizens to voluntarily spend up to 24 hours behind bars by paying a fee. The programme was inaugurated on May 13, 2026, by Telangana Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla at the State Institute of Correctional Administration (SICA), Chanchalguda, along with the inauguration of the Telangana Prisons Museum.
Participants may opt for a 24-hour stay at a cost of ₹2,000 or a 12-hour stay at ₹1,000. Visitors are lodged in specially designated prison cells, served jail food, and required to follow inmate-style daily routines under prison discipline. Bookings may be made through the Telangana Prisons Department’s official website.
Telangana Director General of Prisons and Correctional Services Soumya Mishra stated that the initiative has been designed not as entertainment, but as an educational and awareness-driven programme aimed at helping the public understand prison systems, lawful conduct, social responsibility, and inmate rehabilitation. She clarified that the programme focuses on education, reflection, and an understanding of how modern prisons function as reformative rather than purely punitive institutions.
The Telangana Prisons Museum, launched alongside the programme, has been developed as a correctional awareness museum tracing the evolution of prison systems over time. The museum includes recreated old jail barracks, historical artefacts such as shackles, chains, fetters, and gallows, as well as immersive audio-visual displays depicting prison life across different eras. A dedicated section highlights the role of prisoner labour during the construction of the Nagarjuna Sagar Dam between 1961 and 1968, during which an open-air jail was established at the project site.
Governor Shukla, while addressing the inauguration, described the museum as a historic milestone in the evolution of correctional administration in Telangana. He observed that while prisons in earlier times were largely associated with severe punishment and physical hardship, modern correctional systems increasingly focus on reform, rehabilitation, and social reintegration. He commended the Telangana Prisons Department for developing an institution that enables the public to understand prison administration and inmate life more realistically.
With the launch of the Telangana Prisons Museum, Hyderabad joins a small list of Indian cities hosting dedicated jail museums. It is the fifth such institution in the country, after similar museums in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Alipore in Kolkata, Bengaluru, and Goa.
This is not Hyderabad’s first foray into prison tourism. Five years ago, the Sangareddy Jail, a 222-year-old prison, opened its doors to a similar ‘Feel the Jail’ programme. The decision to launch the new initiative at Chanchalguda was taken after the Heritage Jail Museum in Sangareddy collapsed a few years ago. The Chanchalguda museum has been designed as a larger and more immersive institution focused on awareness, education, research, and public reflection.
The Telangana government has also highlighted broader prison reform efforts, including inmate welfare, vocational training, prison industries, agriculture, skill development, and social reintegration programmes.
