Tihar Jail

Tihar Jail is located at Tihar village, approximately 7 km from Chanakya Puri, to the west of New Delhi, India. It is the largest complex of prisons in South Asia with almost 12,000 inmates.[caption id="attachment_62384" align="alignleft" width="380" caption="Inmates sew clothes at a tailoring unit inside the Tihar Jail complex in New Delhi. Adnan Abidi/Reuters"][/caption]The main objective of Tihar Jail is to convert its inmates into law-abiding citizens by providing them vocational skills and education. It strives to help the inmates live with  self-esteem.Originally run by the state of Punjab as a maximum security prison, its control was transferred to the National Capital Territory of Delhi in 1966. In 1984 additional facilities were constructed and it became the Tihar Prison.In her capacity as the Inspector General of Prisons with Tihar Prisons coming under her jurisdiction, Kiran Bedi instituted a number of prison reforms.Former telecom minister and 2G scam accused A Raja and DMK MP Kanimozhi are some of the high-profile inmates at Tihar. On August 16, 2011, social activist Anna Hazare — campaigning for a strong Lokpal Bill — was arrested and sent to Tihar. However, following widespread protest by his supporters across the country, the government was forced to issue orders for his release. But Hazare refused to leave the prison, insisting he wanted the right to return to the city park where he had originally planned to fast.