Women inmates lodged in the high-security Tihar Jail will soon be sporting the latest hair-dos and make-up trends. A salon-cum-training institute has been inaugurated in the prison complex in coordination with renowned hair stylist Habib, which will provided beauty services at subsidised rates and impart training to prisoners as well.

The main aim of setting up the salon, however, is to train women prisoners in varied aspects of beauty and health care, which will help them earn a respectable living after their release from the jail.

The center will offer two types of cosmetology courses of three and six month duration to prisoners after which they will get a certification from Habib Training Institute. The courses offered at Tihar will have the same syllabi as what is taught at the academy in Sainik Farms. The focus of the course is on hair styling. Prisoners will be taught the latest hair cuts and colouring techniques. Thirty per cent of the course will deal with make-up and beauty care and include training on treatments like manicures and pedicures.

The response to the centre has been `overwhelming' as volunteers for the first batch of 15 trainees have already enrolled themselves at the training centre created in the prison, even before its inauguration. "I wanted to bring about a change in someone's life by imparting the art that I have learnt. I approached the DG of Tihar, who was very forthcoming about the idea of setting up a training academy inside the prison. While the centre was being readied, I started with training five prisoners who were looking after a small beauty parlour being run in the women's jail. The project reports prepared by them have put my other students to shame. There is so much talent here,'' said Amzad Habib, technical director of the Habib Academy.

The infrastructure, which is at par with the academy outside prison, has been funded by the prison administration. "We have created the required infrastructure for the training course in the form of a well-equipped salon inside the prison so that women inmates can get vocational training. They will get a certification at the end of the course, which will help in their rehabilitation after release from jail,'' said BK Gupta, Director General, Delhi Prisons. The facility was formally inaugurated in Jail 6 in Tihar Jail on Friday. The training will be imparted without any cost and on their release, the prisoners will also be given equipment from their funds to start up beauty parlours of their own.