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Among the most common symptoms the doctors noticed were lack of sleep, anxiety, uneasiness and aloofness.

While most of the affected inmates would be treated with drugs, the jail also plans to start yoga classes to help inmates with anxiety to stay calm.

The therapy sessions will take place in the jail’s activity area.

Every week, doctors will decide if inmates need private sessions or group therapy.

Authorities said the jail will buy the drugs prescribed to the inmates, and the cost will be borne by the state government.

To ensure the medication is monitored and to avoid over-dosing, jail doctors and their staff will be responsible to distribute the drugs. “The medicines will be stored in the jail’s medical facility, which is well guarded,” said the jail official quoted earlier. “There is no chance of patients getting access to the pills.”

Apart from psychiatric treatment, doctors have also been asked to teach the inmates first aid. The jail is creating self-help groups in every barrack so inmates can help each other.

Rajvardhan Sinha, IG prisons, said the jail has started these initiatives to create awareness against drug abuse and to help the inmates overcome psychological problems.

Psychiatrist Dr Ashish Deshpande, the head of the counselling team at Divyaj Foundation, and fitness expert Mickey Mehta, a consultant for the foundation, visited the jail last week.

Mehta said that during a counselling sessions, he noticed the inmates were depressed as they were guilt-ridden. “I told them to practice healthy living, embrace their situation and look ahead positively.” ground, leaders of both parties say, is limited to resisting the bill. Sarma said Assam had changed, but the AGP leadership was still stuck in the days of the Assam agitation. “The AGP does not understand this today, but they will realise this in days to come,” Sarma said, adding that an alliance between “indigenous Assamese, tribals and those who consider India as their mother” was needed to maintain social equilibrium.

Sarma admitted that certain states, such as Manipur and Meghalaya, have reservations over the bill, but the Centre had offered to incentivise the Bengali Hindu population that wanted to relocate to other parts of the country.

He said the BJP will try to “clear the confusion” around the bill and communicate the correct message. “We believe social balance will finally return,” he said.