Prison system and reform

Prison system and reform

The riot in Jalandhar central jail, in which about 1,500 prisoners went on the rampage in protest against the intolerable behaviour of jail authorities, draws painful attention to the uncivilised state of most Indian prisons. The locking of some prisoners in dark cells, the denial of basic facilities, and the forcible shaving of a Sikh prisoner’s hair suggest that for much of the prison establishment, the scope of human rights excludes the jail population. The Jaland har blow-up was not very different from what happened last month in Bihar’s Beur jail; agitated inmates, mainly left-wing extremists, temporarily took control of the prison complex, after staging a protest against alleged maltreatment that drove a fellow prisoner to suicide. In 1983, the All India Committee on Jail Reforms, chaired by Justice A.N. Mulla, spotlighted the “overcrowded prisons…unsatisfactory living conditions, lack of treatment programmes, and allegations of an indifferent and even inhuman approach of prison staff.” Little seems to have changed in 25 years.

The intractable factor that any attempt to improve the system comes up against is overcrowding — a condition that compromises everything, starting with basic hygiene. The Administrative Reforms Commission recently noted that Jharkhand’s jails have 300 per cent more people than the total stipulated capacity; and in Delhi, it is 250 per cent! Aside from immediate steps to reduce overcrowding, any effective reform strategy must include programmes to sensitise jail authorities and transparent mechanisms to bring to book those responsible for the maltreatment of prisoners. While there have been commendable efforts by some individuals — notably by the inspiring Kiran Bedi, who transformed the atmosphere in Delhi’s Tihar jail by introducing vocational education, cultural programmes, counselling sessions, and a system of seeking prisoner feedback — there has been no concerted national or state level policy to improve the prison administration. It is vital to look at such reform through the prism of human rights. A progressive system is one that recognises that prisoners, like other citizens, enjoy basic rights and that the purpose of putting people away is their reform and rehabilitation — not the provision of sadistic pleasure to the jailors.