Colour of discord: Will saffron walls bring down crime graph in Yogi's UP?

The residential quarters of police officers in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, have been repainted saffron

Colour of discord: The residential quarters of police officers in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, have been repainted, triggering sharp criticism from the Opposition. The reason: They sport a telltale saffron now, while earlier they were bright yellow in colour. The Opposition in the state hit out at the ruling Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) for choosing a colour that is associated with the party, and which is also considered a favourite of state Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. 

“Will painting walls saffron bring down the crime graph in the state?” asked Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee spokesperson Anshu Awasthi. Interestingly, the CM’s secretariat was painted saffron last year: in the same month, a fleet of 50 saffron-bodied buses were launched by Adityanath.  

Problem of plenty

Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Shipping and Water Resources, Nitin Gadkari (pictured), is known for out-of-the-box thinking. He conjured up a new idea which, he said, took care of two things — his birthday celebrations and tackling the milk glut in the country to an extent. The minister, who celebrated his birthday on May 27, treated well-wishers on his special day to flavoured milk, instead of tea or aerated beverages. Gadkari made this candid confession during a briefing on the measures taken by the government to tackle the surplus production of milk in the country. By official estimates, India has a surplus of 300,000 tonnes of milk powder this year. 

A slice of jail life

So you thought spending time behind bars, wearing jail uniform and eating unpretentious food, which is unlikely to satiate your hunger, is the stuff of nightmares? Well, if all goes as planned, that nightmare might soon become reality. The Kerala State Prison Department is deliberating on a proposal to open the portals of one of its central jails to visitors, who might want to spend a day there to get the feel of jail life. Of course, there is a fee to experience the “pleasure”. The pay and stay plan is part of a programme being considered around a unique prison museum coming up on the Viyyur central prison premises in Thrissur district. Rare prison-related objects and documents, now strewn across various jails in the state, would also be displayed at the museum.