The "Books on Wheels" Initiative Provides Literature to Inmates in the Delhi prison

The "Books on Wheels" program now has 3,575 books available, and as of this writing, 800 of the 3,500 convicts housed in Jail No. 4 get books each week from it.

on May 03, 2023

The "Books on Wheels" Initiative Provides Literature to Inmates in the Delhi prison

The Bhagavad Gita, the Quran, and novels by well-known authors Chetan Bhagat and Devdutt Pattanaik are just a few of the literature inmates in Tihar's cell number four, specifically for first-time offenders are currently reading to pass the time.

Their routine has changed due to a prison management effort that began "Books on Wheels" within the institution in December last year. As part of this, one of the prisoners pushes a cart full of books around the facility each day, and other prisoners can take whichever books they choose.

The idea is now only available to prison number 4, but officials say they plan to expand it to other jails soon.

After noticing that a few inmates were trying to visit the prison's central library to borrow or return books, the jail management came up with the concept.

According to Jail No. 4's statistics, the most frequently read book by detainees is Pattanaik's Pashu, which has been distributed at least a dozen times, sometimes to the same prisoner. Bhagat, Mohan Pathak, and Reema Bharti's books were also discovered to be among the most widely read, each borrowed in the same week from at least six to seven different prisoners.

The "Books on Wheels" program now has 3,575 books available, and as of this writing, 800 of the 3,500 convicts housed in Jail No. 4 get books each week from it. A prison officer said, "Orders are given to bookstores and NGOs, and the necessary amount is procured, if a particular book is in demand and is quickly running out of stock."

According to the current set-up, each jail has its library with a special room filled with a variety of books from all genres, including English literature, philosophical and mythological works, non-fiction books, and autobiographies. We also have the Vedas.

English-language fiction books and autobiographies are frequently published by educated prisoners or those charged with white-collar crimes. According to library data compiled over the years, most inmates—both those awaiting trial and those already convicted—read religious or mythical materials while incarcerated.

According to officials, the majority of the books in the library are gifts from convicts' families, NGOs, or the jail administration. As it offers a more convenient and flexible way to access books from the barrack itself and further restricts inmates' movement, preventing the smuggling and passing of illegal items inside the jail, the initiative will gradually be expanded to all prisons in Tihar, Mandoli, and Rohini, according to a jail official.

The prisons' libraries are open to inmates twice a day from 8 am to 12 pm and 3 pm to 5 pm.

According to Sunil Gupta, a former Tihar police officer, prisoners typically turn to religious and philosophical publications for solace.