Patna; Alarmed at a large number of prisoners falling victim to the deadly COVID-19, the administration in Jharkhand state has announced they will plant a huge number of Tulsi (holy basil, Ocimum Tenuiflorum) plants inside jail premises due to its miraculous medicinal values. Authorities said the daily dose of Tulsi leaves will improve the immunity powers of prisoners now battling Coronavirus.
In a first step in this direction, authorities have declared to plant 4,000 Tulsi plants in the premises of Birsa Munda Central Jail, Ranchi. The authorities took the step following increased demand for Tulsi leaves following the outbreak of the virus.
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“Prisoners and jail staff are consuming more Tulsi leaves these days to boost their immunity power as a result of which leaves have gone missing from most of the Tulsi plants already there. So, we have planned to plant 4,000 more Tulsi plants soon,” jail superintendent Hamid Akhtar said today.
He said each prisoner would be asked to plant one such plant and also take care of it. “Right now, no single nursery has such a large number of Tulsi saplings. So we are trying to purchase them from different nurseries,” Akhtar said adding the plants would come within the next two-three days.
A total of 3,604 prisoners, including some high profile former ministers and lawmakers are currently lodged in Birsa Munda Central Jail, Ranchi. Out of them, around 150 have been tested positive during the tests so far while further screenings are still on. Of all the jails in the state, the worst affected is Godda jail where 248 out of total 350 prisoners were found infected with COVID-19.
Serving boiled eggs
Tulsi leaves are not the only prescription on the list of jail administrators to improve the immunity of prisoners. The jail authorities are already providing boiled eggs, ‘Kadha’ (a therapeutic Indian drink) and lemon tea to prisoners to boost their immunity. “We are serving one boiled egg to each infected prisoner every day. Besides, Kadha made in jail kitchens are also being served to inmates,” Jharkhand’s inspector general (jails) Birendra Bhushan said.
In a bid to check the spread of the COVID-19, authorities have also declared all jails across the state as containment zones. Apart from these, the prisoners are being regularly informed about the pandemic’s nature of spread and recovery pattern, and also being advised to maintain their “positivity” level. COVID-19 has claimed 224 lives and infected 22,125 people so far in Jharkhand.
