150 inmates of Yerawada jail to become yoga teachers

U T Pawar, the superintendent of the Yerawada jail, said, “We had organised a special training programme for around
150 inmates in the last one week. Yoga instructors from a social organisation have been training these selected inmates and their training concluded on Sunday.”

On Sunday between 8 am and 9 am, a special session in which almost all the inmates participated, was held. “This practice will continue in coming days and these trained 150 inmates will further conduct daily sessions of the inmates in their respective cells. The yoga sessions will become part of the routine of the inmates. We hope this brings in positive energy among the inmates and serves as correctional.”

Pawar, however, said that the inmates from the high security cells — which includes the high security Anda Cell and Faasi Yard — as well as those who have been lodged separately, including Sanjay Dutt, were not part of the exercise. The jail authorities are
however planning to organise separate sessions for these inmates in the coming days.

The training of the 150 inmates, which is being conducted by yoga instructors from Vidnyan Bharati, will continue for a month.

Meanwhile, the main programme of the Maharashtra Prison Dpartment on the occasion of Yoga Day was held in Nagpur Central Jail. The yoga session was attended by Prison Department head Meeran Borwankar, senior officers including Swati Sathe, Yogesh Desai and Marathi theatre and film personality Prashant Damle.