In a first-of-its-kind initiative that is drawing both curiosity and criticism, the Telangana Prisons Department has opened the gates of Hyderabad’s historic Chanchalguda Central Jail to ordinary citizens through a paid immersive programme called “Feel the Jail” or “Jail Anubhavam.” The initiative allows visitors to voluntarily experience prison life for 12 or 24 hours, complete with jail uniforms, prison barracks, basic meals and strict routines followed by inmates. The programme was launched alongside the new Telangana Prisons Museum at the State Institute of Correctional Administration (SICA) campus in Chanchalguda.
Under the programme, participants pay Rs 1,000 for a 12-hour stay or Rs 2,000 for a full 24-hour experience. Visitors are required to surrender their mobile phones, wear coarse khadi-style prison clothing, sleep inside cells or barracks, and follow a tightly regulated schedule that begins early in the morning with prison-style discipline. Authorities say the initiative is intended to spread awareness about prison life, correctional systems and the consequences of crime, while also helping generate revenue for rehabilitation activities inside jails.
Officials have stressed that the project is not designed as entertainment or “jail tourism,” but as an educational and reform-oriented experience. Telangana Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla, who inaugurated the facility, described it as part of a broader transformation of prisons into centres focused on rehabilitation and human dignity rather than punishment alone. The museum attached to the programme showcases the history and evolution of India’s prison system and highlights inmate reform initiatives undertaken in Telangana prisons.
The initiative has nevertheless sparked intense debate online, with critics questioning whether the programme risks turning incarceration into a commercial attraction. Social media reactions have ranged from humour and memes to discussions around “poverty tourism” and the ethics of monetising prison life. Supporters, however, argue that exposing young people to the harsh realities of confinement could act as a deterrent against crime and dismantle the glamorisation of gangster culture. As unusual experiential tourism gains traction globally, Hyderabad’s “Feel the Jail” initiative has rapidly become one of the country’s most talked-about public experiments in correctional awareness.