Commission Represented in Meeting on Police Reforms
The zonal meeting of Regional Home Secretaries and IGs of Prison was held on 19 April at the Regional Institute for Correctional Administrative on (RICA) Chandigarh. It was organised by the Punjab State Human Rights Commission. Shri Sudarshan Agarwal, Member, and Shri Sankar Sen, Special Rapporteur of the Commission represented the National Human Rights Commission in the meeting.
Speaking on the occasion, Shri Sudarshan Aggarwal, drew attention towards mal-administration and the prevailing conditions in prisons. He mentioned that the recommendations of the various reform committees have remained unimplemented. The Supreme Court through various judgements has highlighted that the rights of prisoners should not be overlooked. He identified several areas, including medical examination of prisoners, segregation of undertrials and convicts, arrangements for escorting prisoners to courts, training of prison personnel, which deserve immediate attention. In this regard, he mentioned that he had written a letter to the Rotary clubs all over the country, as a result of which he was informed that the Rotary Clubs in Bangalore had got 2500 inmates medically screened.
Shri Sen mentioned that the NHRC gives considerable importance to prison reform and it recognizes that there is a need for systemic reforms in this area. The NHRC has circulated a specific plan and the discussion at the meeting was held with reference to it. The areas covered related to medical examination of prisoners, arrangements for escorting them to courts, changes required in procurement, cooking and catering of food in prisons, steps which can be taken to reduce congestion in prisons and segregation of prisoners to effectively implement reform; an improved system of `visitors’ for prisons and adoption of a standard prisons manual.
The main points that emerged after deliberations in the meeting were:
Escorting of prisoners by the police is creating no problem is the states of Rajasthan and Chandigarh. However, problems were experienced in Himachal Pradesh and Haryana. It was felt that, for both of these States, the use of Home Guards for the purpose of escorting prisoners should be seriously considered.
In Himachal Pradesh, Rs.600/- per prisoner was spent on food and Rs.52/- was paid to a prisoner working as a cook, daily.
Both Himachal Pradesh and Haryana do not have institutional facilities for training of the prison staff. It was decided that they could send the staff for training either in the Training Institute at Patiala, Punjab or at RICA, Chandigarh.
IGs Prison, Punjab and Haryana indicated that in the Punjab, a Judge of the Punjab High Court had visited prisons and ordered the release on bail of a large number of prisoners. It was felt that instructions should go from the Apex court regarding regular visit to jails by District Judges and High Court Judges who should examine the position of undertrial prisoners and order release on bail in all appropriate cases.
Shri Sen has asked IG (Prison), Haryana and DIG (Prison), Delhi to prepare a note on the release of prisoners on parole and on the systems prevailing in each State, as there were many complaints to the Commission from prisoners regarding grant of parole.
Speaking on the occasion, Shri Sudarshan Aggarwal, drew attention towards mal-administration and the prevailing conditions in prisons. He mentioned that the recommendations of the various reform committees have remained unimplemented. The Supreme Court through various judgements has highlighted that the rights of prisoners should not be overlooked. He identified several areas, including medical examination of prisoners, segregation of undertrials and convicts, arrangements for escorting prisoners to courts, training of prison personnel, which deserve immediate attention. In this regard, he mentioned that he had written a letter to the Rotary clubs all over the country, as a result of which he was informed that the Rotary Clubs in Bangalore had got 2500 inmates medically screened.
Shri Sen mentioned that the NHRC gives considerable importance to prison reform and it recognizes that there is a need for systemic reforms in this area. The NHRC has circulated a specific plan and the discussion at the meeting was held with reference to it. The areas covered related to medical examination of prisoners, arrangements for escorting them to courts, changes required in procurement, cooking and catering of food in prisons, steps which can be taken to reduce congestion in prisons and segregation of prisoners to effectively implement reform; an improved system of `visitors’ for prisons and adoption of a standard prisons manual.
The main points that emerged after deliberations in the meeting were:
Escorting of prisoners by the police is creating no problem is the states of Rajasthan and Chandigarh. However, problems were experienced in Himachal Pradesh and Haryana. It was felt that, for both of these States, the use of Home Guards for the purpose of escorting prisoners should be seriously considered.
In Himachal Pradesh, Rs.600/- per prisoner was spent on food and Rs.52/- was paid to a prisoner working as a cook, daily.
Both Himachal Pradesh and Haryana do not have institutional facilities for training of the prison staff. It was decided that they could send the staff for training either in the Training Institute at Patiala, Punjab or at RICA, Chandigarh.
IGs Prison, Punjab and Haryana indicated that in the Punjab, a Judge of the Punjab High Court had visited prisons and ordered the release on bail of a large number of prisoners. It was felt that instructions should go from the Apex court regarding regular visit to jails by District Judges and High Court Judges who should examine the position of undertrial prisoners and order release on bail in all appropriate cases.
Shri Sen has asked IG (Prison), Haryana and DIG (Prison), Delhi to prepare a note on the release of prisoners on parole and on the systems prevailing in each State, as there were many complaints to the Commission from prisoners regarding grant of parole.