Uttar Pradesh government to deliver Sangam water to prisoners in jails

Pilgrims carry holy water from Sangam during the Maha Kumbh Mela festival in Prayagraj on February 14, 2025.
| Photo Credit: AFP

The Uttar Pradesh jails department is making arrangements to take holy water from Maha Kumbh, Prayagraj, to all major jails across the State, allowing inmates to participate in the Maha Kumbh festival. The event will take place in all the jails on February 21.

“The programme will take place in all the jails on February 21, from 9:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. Over 90,000 inmates are currently lodged in 75 jails, including seven central prisons, across the State. The holy water from the Sangam will be taken to all the jails, mixed with regular water, and stored in a small tank within the jail premises. All the prisoners will bathe in the water after prayers,” an official statement reads.

Uttar Pradesh Jail Minister Dara Singh Chauhan is likely to attend the event at the Lucknow jail on February 21. Gorakhpur District Jail Jailor A.K. Kushwaha said that the prison administration has sent prison guard Arun Maurya to collect the holy water from Prayagraj’s Sangam.

Uttar Pradesh has one model jail, five central jails, 61 district jails, 2 sub jails, one Kishor Sadan in Bareilly, and one Nari Bandi Niketan (women’s jail) in Lucknow. In total, there are 71 prisons in U.P., India’s most populous State.