From mid-morning, the beauty parlour comes alive, the bustle busier than usual and the queues longer. But the women don’t mind the wait — they have nowhere else to go.

They are inmates of the women’s jail in Tihar, making the most of the authorities’ offer to get a spruce-up free of charge for New Year’s Eve, to be celebrated perhaps with a bit of singing and dancing.

Services at the beauty parlour, located inside the high walls of the women’s prison — Jail No. 6 — range from haircuts, threading and spa sessions to pedicures, manicures, facials and nail polishing.

Jail sources said the beauty parlour remains open from 10am to 2pm every day of the year, the services coming at a charge except for the current New Year’s Eve offer.

“This offer is limited to a week. The idea is to break the monotony of prison life and allow the women a chance to pamper themselves,” a jail warden said.

At the parlour, a pedicure costs just ₹40, a spa session ₹150, a facial ₹80 and threading ₹25. The market rates are up to 10 times higher.

The parlour, the warden said, is run by inmates trained by professionals from Godrej Consumer Products Ltd and Habibs Hair Academy. The training includes modern hairstyling and other beauty therapies, and is imparted as part of a rehab programme to equip the women for a new life after release.

Those who complete the course are given a certificate — but without mentioning the place of training, to help them escape any stigma and secure jobs after release.

The beauty parlour is well-furnished and air-conditioned with plush velvet armchairs, sleek tables and wooden chairs for customers. Photos of Madhuri Dixit, Aishwarya Rai and Kareena Kapoor liven up its walls.

“The parlour is the most happening and noisiest place inside the women’s jail. Who doesn’t want to look good?” a prison official said.

The prison official added: “Usually, the women flock to the parlour during festivals such as Karva Chauth and Diwali, or perhaps before a visit from a relative — even ahead of a court hearing.”

The parlour isn’t a profit-making venture. Sources said the earnings are used entirely to buy cosmetics and accessories.

Male prisoners at Tihar have been less lucky so far. They have ordinary salons catering to them at the 12 jails for men in the complex, where government barbers cut their hair and shave them free of cost.

“We are planning to set up fancy salons for the men, too, considering the demand from them. The men too want to look good,” a jail superintendent said.

In the women’s jail, only around 25 to 30 per cent of the nearly 550 inmates are convicts. The rest are accused awaiting trial, mostly in dowry cases. The inmates include several foreigners: many of them from Nigeria, facing drug and fraud charges.

The parlour offers a welcome break from the drear of the overcrowded barracks, where life is all about strict adherence to the prison routine.

The inmates wake up at 5am and undergo a roll call. Breakfast is at 7am. Lunch is from 11am to noon. A part of the afternoon is allotted for meeting visitors, if any. Dinner is served early at 5pm.

Since 2019, Tihar has allowed some women convicts to work outside as part of an “open jail” rehab policy. This after Delhi High Court pulled up the jail authorities for discriminating against women convicts as a similar facility had earlier been provided to male inmates.

Under the open-jail scheme, well-behaved male and female convicts are allowed to work outside the Tihar complex for a stipulated period each day and have to return to their barracks by 5pm.

The women work mostly at beauty parlours outside, where they are paid more than what they earn working inside the jail. The men work mostly in shops.

The scheme, however, does not cover those convicted of offences against the state and those awaiting trial. The undertrials are only allowed to work in the jail factory or bakery.