Indian Prisoners’ Situation: Prison Reforms Conditions and Infrastructure
Source Prison Reforms Conditions and Infrastructure: Hindustan Times
GS II: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation
Overview
- Prison Reforms, Conditions and Infrastructure
- The finding of the committee
Why in the News?
Parliamentary Committee on Home Affairs on prisoners while tabling the report in the Rajya Sabha named Parliamentary panel report on Prison Reforms, Conditions and Infrastructure
Details of Prison Reforms Conditions and Infrastructure
- Standing committee, headed by Rajya Sabha member Brij Lal.
- The report named as Prison Reforms, Conditions and Infrastructure.
- The 31-member Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs prepared the report after six meetings.
- The interaction and reports received from prison officials across the country.
Education
- Nearly 65 per cent of the 554,034 prisoners across India are either illiterate or have education below Class 10.
- 10.59 per cent of the prisoners hold a graduate degree or higher qualification, 25.21 per cent are illiterate, and 40.16 per cent have education levels below Class 10.
- It suggests the higher the educational level, the lower the chance of committing a crime.
Undertrial Prisoners
- 70 per cent of prisoners in Indian jails were undertrials.
- They had not been released due to their inability to pay fines.
- It proposed that a fund be created in all states to aid these indigent prisoners in paying their surety amounts.
Bailed Prisoners
- The committee also recommended the use of bracelets or ankle trackers for those who secured bail, a practice already adopted by the Odisha government.
- According to the committee, this measure could address concerns about undertrials influencing witnesses, leaving the country, or committing another crime.
- Also, ease the burden on overcrowded prisons and the resources required to maintain them.
Age Group
- The report highlighted that 51.2 per cent of convicted prisoners were in the age group of 30 to 50 years
- This is followed by 28.4 per cent in the range of 18 to 30 years.
- Among undertrial prisoners, the majority (47.9 per cent) are in the age group of 18 to 30 years, and 41 per cent between 30 and 50 years.
- The percentage of convicts and undertrials above the age of 50 stands at 20.4 per cent and 11.1 per cent, respectively.
Women Prisoners
- The standing committee has also recommended that women prisoners be allowed to live with their children until the latter attain the age of 12.
- Currently, prisons across the country allow women inmates to keep their children only till the age of six.
Transgender Inmates
- For transgender inmates, the committee recommended separate infrastructure facilities for them.
- Separate barracks or wards may be ensured for transmen and transwomen.
- To preserve their right to privacy and dignity, there should also be provision for separate toilets and bathing facilities for such prisoners.
- Most jails follow the practice of lodging transgender prisoners in women’s jails.
- When transgender inmates are brought to prison, a doctor of their choice should be assigned to identify their gender.
- Prison officials should not be allowed to identify the gender of the inmate.
Prisoners Count
- Despite various initiatives to reduce the inmate population, India currently houses over half a million prisoners, exceeding its total prison capacity of 425,000.
- The report identified that Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, and Haryana together accounted for more than 50 per cent of the country’s total prisoner population.
- According to records, of the 554,034 prison inmates across the country, 531,025 are male, 22,918 female and 91 are transgenders.
Over Crowding
- The problem of overcrowding in Indian prisons is mostly because of a very large number of undertrial prisoners’ population.
- The national average occupancy rate in prisons across the country is still 130.2 per cent, with 77.1 per cent of all the prisoners in the country being undertrials.
- Ministry of Home Affairs that the government of India has taken many steps to address the issue of overcrowding in prisons such as inserting
- Section 436A in the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC)
- Plea bargaining
- Making legal provisions of the Legal Services Authority Act for providing free legal aid
- Conducting awareness camps through the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA)
Mobile usage
- Admitting that mobile phones in prisons are a potential hazard for maintaining peace and order.
- Phones can be used in gang activity in prisons
- Parliamentary Committee report on Home Affairs has asked the Home Ministry to install technologically upgraded jammers that are able to block all signals from 2G to 5G in all prisons.
- Many state prisoners have no jammers installed.
- Those prisons have jammers who are not capable of blocking the latest 2G and 3G bands.
- The State government of Tamil Nadu informed the Committee that the Tower for Harmonious Call Blocking System (T-HCBS) which is being installed in their prisons is one of the best practices for blocking phone calls.
All-India Jail-Cadre of Union Territories
- The jail staff belonging to the UTs needs to be transferred rotationally from one jail of UT to the other.
- The committee recommends that the Government of India shall create an all-India Jail-Cadre of Union Territories.
- The committee noted there is no exclusive transfer policy in the state prison departments.
Young Offenders
- Young offenders should be given by the Home Ministry.
- Along with a common guideline for all states, describing the procedure to govern them.
GST Exemption
- Exempting products made by jail inmates from GST will boost their competitiveness and sales.
- Making them available online will not only create awareness among people about the work done by prisoners but will also bring about a positive outcome for their reforms.
Budget Allocation
- According to Prison Statistics India 2021, the total Budget allocation for all prisons in the country for 2021- 22 stood at 7,619.2 crore.
- The actual expenditure amounted to 6,727.3 crore, which was 88.3 per cent of the total.
- A sum of 2,106.86 crore, 31.3 per cent of the total annual expenditure for the financial year.
- It was spent on inmates’ food, clothing, medical care, vocational training, and welfare activities.
Best Practices Identified
- Adopted by Tamil Nadu where prisoners are allowed to meet and touch their family members, which will enable inmates to cope with loneliness and stress.
- In Tihar Jail, inmates are allowed to meet their family members twice a week, happen in a room where they are separated by a glass enclosure.
- Their family speak to each other using an intercom device.
- Assam’s “Ashirvad Anusthan” scheme
- Allows children of convicts to meet their parents physically and take their blessing before going for an interview or examination in school/college.
About the Parliamentary Committee
- A group of MPs known as a Parliamentary Committee is one that is either appointed, elected, or suggested by the Speaker or Chair of the House.
- The committee operates under the chairmanship of the Speaker and submits its findings to the Speaker or to the House.
- The British Parliament is where the concept of a parliamentary committee first emerged.
- Parliamentary committees are of two kinds
- Standing Committees
- The Standing Committees are permanent and work on a continuous basis.
- Ad Hoc Committees
- Committees are temporary and cease to exist on completion of the task assigned to them.
- Standing Committees
- Chairperson
- Each committee has a chairperson who is a senior MP selected by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha or the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
- The chairperson is typically from the ruling party or coalition in the Lok Sabha.
- Confidentiality
- The proceedings of these committees are usually confidential.
- This allows members to have frank discussions and evaluate issues without political pressure or public scrutiny.
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