Nagpur (Maharashtra): Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on Saturday announced the beginning of jail tourism in the state.
While addressing a press conference in Nagpur, Deshmukh said that Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar will inaugurate jail tourism facility in Pune's Yerwada Jail on January 26.
This is the first of its kind initiative in the country, he claimed.
"Jail tourism in the state will start from the Yerawada jail in the first phase. Students from schools, colleges and other people will get a chance to visit these historical places," he told reporters.
Interestingly, Ajmal Kasab, a Pakistani terrorist, convicted in the 2008 Mumbai attacks was executed on November 21, 2012 in Yerawada Central Jail of Pune. He was executed four years after he was convicted and sentenced to death for killing more than 200 people.
"Under the British rule, several freedom fighters, including Mahatma Gandhi, Lokmanya Tilak, Motilal Nehru, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Sarojini Naidu, Subhas Chandra Bose had been imprisoned in Yerawada jail and their memories have been preserved there," he said.
Deshmukh said that guides will be provided to the visitors and ticket prices will range from Rs 5 to Rs 50. "In view of the coronavirus pandemic, only 50 visitors will be allowed daily," he added.
(With agency inputs)
