Jail Too In The Expansion Path !!!!!

To ease the overcrowding of under trial prisoners at the Central Prisons, the Prison Department was planning to have district jails in all the eleven police ranges, said R. Nataraj, Director-General of Police (Prisons) on Wednesday. Over crowding of prisons was a global problem, he told. In India the public - prisoner ratio was 30 or 35 a lakh whereas in other Asian countries it was 60 or 70 a lakh. China has 80 a lakh and in Western countries it was 100 a lakh.

The practice of indiscriminate arrest and remanding them for minor offences was also a reason for overcrowding, Mr.Nataraj said. Arrests and remands should be discretionary and not mandatory. Excepting Puzhal at Chennai, the central prisons at Palayamkottai, Coimbatore, Salem, Madurai, Tiruchirapalli, Cuddalore and Vellore were overcrowded by 20 per cent to 30 per cent, he added. At present there are district jails at Thanjavur, Nagapattinam, Tirunelveli and Nagercoil. Soon there would be district jails at Madurai, Tiruchirapalli, Coimbatore and Salem to accommodate undertrial prisoners.

Tamil Nadu was having 107 sub-jails of which ten were being converted into Borstal schools for accommodating prisoners in the age group of 18 to 23. In addition to the Open Air Jail at Singanallur on 100 acres and farm jail near Salem in 20 acres, the State Government has sanctioned another Open Air Jail at Sivaganga. An amount of Rs 2.5 crores has been allotted. Its work would be completed next year. In a bid to prepare the long term prisoners like life convicts mentally for their discharge, these jails would be used as transit points. Prisoners to be released shortly and those who had completed reasonable period of their sentence and known for good conduct would be sent to such jails, he said.

Mr.Nataraj said that jail sentence should not actually make them prisoners and criminals for the rest of their life. Mr.Nataraj also said that the concept of community service as a penalty or atonement for those found guilty of social offences such as prohibition, dowry harassment, atrocities on Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes would be suggested to the Government for bringing in the required law. He pointed out that Andhra Pradesh had already tried this. Similarly, to avoid pressure of escorts on police, Mr.Nataraj said that already 276 courts (complexes) have been linked to the Central Prisons by videoconferencing for remand extension procedures. The remaining 78 courts would be linked during the next year.

This had helped in bringing down the number of escorts from 2000 to 1,200 a day now, he added. The prison department would bring out an in-house magazine for prisoners wherein the inputs, contents management and everything would be done by the prisoner for giving them freedom of expression. To help the prisoners overcome the social stigma on ex-convicts,Prison Superintendents were being asked to give conduct certificate to prisoners who were victims of circumstances and who were not criminals by choice but because of compulsions and circumstances.

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