Indo-British Project on Prison Reforms: Seminar in New Delhi
A seminar was held in New Delhi on 1 July 1999, as part of an Indo-British Project on Prison Reforms, which is being undertaken jointly by the National Human Rights Commission, the British Council, the Bureau of Police Research and Development and PRAJA, an NGO.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr.Justice M.N.Venkatachaliah, Chairperson of the Commission, advocated the need for privatisation of various prison management systems. He said that the massive growth of the prison population in recent years provides the cause and justification for privatisation.
"Jail administrators also require professional knowledge and skills to deal with rapidly changing behavioral patterns and new types of crimes". Referring to penal reforms, he said, "it is not the severity of punishment but the certainty of punishment, which deters crime". Suggesting reforms in the penal administration and streamlining the criminal justice system to protect the rights of prisoners, Justice Venkatachaliah said that delay in trials caused problems like overcrowding and unhygienic conditions in jails.
In this context, he emphasised that the health facilities in prisons needed a lot of improvement. Diseases like tuberculosis, malaria and HIV were spreading in jails in an alarming manner. At the instance of the National Human Rights Commission, an initiative was undertaken by the Rotarians, who in the course of the past three months had provided comprehensive medical examination to over 10,000 prisoners in jails in Bangalore, Chennai, Vishakhapattanam, Gurgaon, Rohtak, to name of few locations.
He said that the National Human Rights Commission, in its ‘Custodial Justice Programme’ has been highlighting areas in prison administration that need immediate attention if the prisons are to shed the stigma of being human ‘warehouses’ and ‘penal dustbins’.
The Chairman also felt that prolonged trials put tremendous pressure on prisons, as about two lakhs of the over 2.70 lakhs prisoners in India happen to be undertrials. In the State of Kerala alone, the undertrial prison population rose from 30,161 in 1996 to 49,990 in 1998. There are vast regional disparities in the conditions in prisons. Whereas Uttar Pradesh has about 16 per cent of the country’s population and also has roughly 16 per cent of the under-trial prisoners in the country, Kerala, which has 3.5 per cent of the country’s population, has about 23 per cent of the country’s under-trial prisoners. But then, he added, India has perhaps one of the lowest rates of prisoners per lakh of population. While the United States of America has 685 prisoners per lakh of the population and United Kingdom 125, in India the figure is 27. Also, in USA, more than 60 per cent of the prison population are from racial or ethnic minorities and over half are black.
In his opening remarks, the British High Commissioner in India, Sir Rob Young said that Britain did not want to impose some peculiarly British concepts of rights on others. "We have made as many mistakes as any other country and have plenty to learn from others". He said that his country was collaborating with the UGC on human rights education at the tertiary level. Britain was collaborating with the Punjab State Human Rights Commission and the Punjab Police Academy on a project on "child friendly policing".
Among the issues that came for discussion during the day were ‘Jail Management: Training in India – issues for Change and Impact’ and the ‘Role of the Judiciary in the Implementation of Human Rights in Prisons’. There was also a panel presentation on changing practices in prisons to improve respect for human rights within prisons.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr.Justice M.N.Venkatachaliah, Chairperson of the Commission, advocated the need for privatisation of various prison management systems. He said that the massive growth of the prison population in recent years provides the cause and justification for privatisation.
"Jail administrators also require professional knowledge and skills to deal with rapidly changing behavioral patterns and new types of crimes". Referring to penal reforms, he said, "it is not the severity of punishment but the certainty of punishment, which deters crime". Suggesting reforms in the penal administration and streamlining the criminal justice system to protect the rights of prisoners, Justice Venkatachaliah said that delay in trials caused problems like overcrowding and unhygienic conditions in jails.
In this context, he emphasised that the health facilities in prisons needed a lot of improvement. Diseases like tuberculosis, malaria and HIV were spreading in jails in an alarming manner. At the instance of the National Human Rights Commission, an initiative was undertaken by the Rotarians, who in the course of the past three months had provided comprehensive medical examination to over 10,000 prisoners in jails in Bangalore, Chennai, Vishakhapattanam, Gurgaon, Rohtak, to name of few locations.
He said that the National Human Rights Commission, in its ‘Custodial Justice Programme’ has been highlighting areas in prison administration that need immediate attention if the prisons are to shed the stigma of being human ‘warehouses’ and ‘penal dustbins’.
The Chairman also felt that prolonged trials put tremendous pressure on prisons, as about two lakhs of the over 2.70 lakhs prisoners in India happen to be undertrials. In the State of Kerala alone, the undertrial prison population rose from 30,161 in 1996 to 49,990 in 1998. There are vast regional disparities in the conditions in prisons. Whereas Uttar Pradesh has about 16 per cent of the country’s population and also has roughly 16 per cent of the under-trial prisoners in the country, Kerala, which has 3.5 per cent of the country’s population, has about 23 per cent of the country’s under-trial prisoners. But then, he added, India has perhaps one of the lowest rates of prisoners per lakh of population. While the United States of America has 685 prisoners per lakh of the population and United Kingdom 125, in India the figure is 27. Also, in USA, more than 60 per cent of the prison population are from racial or ethnic minorities and over half are black.
In his opening remarks, the British High Commissioner in India, Sir Rob Young said that Britain did not want to impose some peculiarly British concepts of rights on others. "We have made as many mistakes as any other country and have plenty to learn from others". He said that his country was collaborating with the UGC on human rights education at the tertiary level. Britain was collaborating with the Punjab State Human Rights Commission and the Punjab Police Academy on a project on "child friendly policing".
Among the issues that came for discussion during the day were ‘Jail Management: Training in India – issues for Change and Impact’ and the ‘Role of the Judiciary in the Implementation of Human Rights in Prisons’. There was also a panel presentation on changing practices in prisons to improve respect for human rights within prisons.