menu was prepared by dadabhai naroji after appropriating for the prices prevailing in the market and was named as 'Jail Cost of Living'

what prices did he appropriates..and what is actually jail cost of living

To estimate the poverty line, Dadabhai Naroji appropriated (estimated) the prices of the different items included in the menu of a prisoner in jail. With this he arrived at a value that indicated the minimum amount of expenditure that one would require to incur to sustain life.

Jail Cost Living is a term coined by Dadabhai Naroji. This is in accordance with the fact that for the estimation of poverty line, he considered the various items consumed by a prisoner in jail. In other words, he estimated the cost of living for a jail prisoner. Hence, the term 'Jail Cost of Living'.