New Delhi, April 15th, 2011

The National Human Rights Commission, NHRC organized a day long national seminar on "Prison reforms" in New Delhi today which concluded with several recommendations to ameliorate the cause of prisoners.

Earlier, inaugurating the seminar, Mr. Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, Chairperson, NHRC said that laws in India reflect our belief in reformatory theory of prisoners. Therefore, focus should be on that, and the prisons should function like corrective homes. Referring to Mulla Committee report, he said that by having a separate cadre for prison administration many of the problems relating to jail management including overcrowding, delayed trial of undertrial prisoners, lack of facilities in the jail premises etc could be resolved. Justice Balakrishnan said that parole provisions for prisoners should be used more liberally.

Addressing the gathering, Mr. Justice G.P. Mathur said that even after more than a century of the enactment of Prisons Act and more than sixty years since independence no medical officer has been posted in many prisons and a doctor from the district hospital occasionally visits the prison for a short period. He also said that in a number of cases, the undertrials through their advocates try to avoid trial proceedings to win over witnesses resulting in overcrowding of jails.

Mr. Sunil Krishna, Director General (Investigations) NHRC said that prisons constitute a critical case of human rights concern. The conditions prevailing in an average Indian prison depict a depressing picture. It becomes all the more grim given the fact that most of the arrests are unnecessary and unjustified which lead to overcrowding in jails. He said that health care, sanitation and decongestion are the areas which need immediate attention and innovative solutions by the prison authorities in respective states.

Representatives of Union Home Ministry, State Human Rights Commissions, Bureau of Police Research and Development, Institute of Correctional Administration, senior prison officers representing different states, NGOs and officers of NHRC participated in the discussions.
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