Three-day workshop for sensitising prison officials

The National Human Rights Commission organised a workshop on "Human Rights in Prison Administration" for middle level prison officials of the rank of Prison Superintendents and Deputy Superintendents from 28 February 2000 to 1 March 2000. The object of the workshop was to sensitise prison personnel who deal directly with prisoners and generate awareness among them regarding the human rights of prisoners.

In its various reports, the Commission has been expressing grave concern about the appalling conditions in jails in the country. Visiting jails is one of the statutory functions of the Commission. Section 12 ( c ) of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993, authorises the Commission to "visit under intimation to the State Government any jail or any other institution under the control of the State Government, where person are detained or lodged for purposes of treatment, reformation or protection to study the living conditions of the inmates and make recommendations thereon". The Commission is of the view that many of the prison officials have not been adequately exposed to human rights values in their training and they do not have an understanding and appreciation of human rights norms and international human rights standards. The Commission has therefore proposed that re-orientation courses should be held for prison officials as this will enable them to understand and appreciate the need for adherence to human rights norms in prison administration and in the discharge of their duties.

Inaugurating the workshop, Shri Sudarshan Agarwal, Member, said that almost of 80 per cent of prisoners in the jails of India were undertrials staying in overcrowded prisons with grossly inadequate medical facilities. "There are jails where prisoners are packed together with no place even to sleep". Tihar alone has 9000 prisoners against a capacity of 2,500 with more than 300 women lodged in a ward meant to house only 75. Similarly, 900 juveniles were being accommodated separately in a ward having a capacity of 200.

Shri Agarwal stressed the need to reduce the number of undertrials in jails to improve the conditions of prisons. Overcrowding could be reduced in a number of ways: expediting trials of detainees under the NDPS Act, constructing separate wards for those convicted of minor offences like ticketless travel, and granting the power of parole to police officials.

Explaining the role of NHRC, Shri Agarwal said that the Commission had recommended to the Centre the enactment of a uniform and consolidated law on prisons for the entire country. He asserted that the provisions of the 106 year-old Prison Act were totally out-dated to cater to the modern requirements of purposeful custody, reformation and treatment of prisoners.

The workshop included talks on Supreme Court decisions on the human rights of prisoners, the recommendations and decisions of NHRC on prison management, the need for special treatment of women and children in prisons, prison administration in developing and developed countries, etc. Case studies constituted an important feature of the training programme. The different sessions were interactive and participative.

Officials from the States of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu participated in the workshop. They were addressed by Justice J.S. Verma, Chairperson, Shri Sudarshan Agarwal, Member, Shri Sankar Sen, Special Rapporteur, Shri D.R. Karthikeyan, Director General (Investigation) of the Commission, Shri P.S. Bawa, Former DG of Police, Sikkim. Dr. Kiran Bedi, Joint Commissioner of Police Training, Delhi, Shri J. Sarangi, DIG, Tihar Jail, Delhi, Dr. B.N. Chattoraj, Professor of Criminology, National School of Criminology and Forensic Sciences, Delhi, Dr. Upneet Lalli, Deputy Director, Institute of Correctional Administration, Chandigarh.

Noting that Indian jails had poor medical facilities, it was pointed out that an analysis of deaths in prisons in the years 1996, 1997 and 1998 showed that tuberculosis accounted for 76 per cent of them. The Commission has directed all States to ensure the medical examination of all prison inmates in accordance to a proforma designed by the Commission. It is noteworthy, however, that the number of prisoners in Indian jails is, in fact, much less as a percentage of the total population than that in many other countries. India has about 2.4 lakh persons in jails, which works out to around0.23 per cent of the total population.

Speaking at the valedictory function, the Chairperson, Mr. Justice J.S. Verma, stressed the need to change the mindset of the jail officials in order to realise the human rights of prisoners. He said that the "iron curtain" between the jail inmates and their human rights should be removed. There were certain rights inherent in the human being and nobody should be deprived of them. "The mere fact that a person has been incarcerated does mean that he should be restrained of every right to which a free man is entitled. A prisoner’s misery should not be aggravated while in incarceration. Instead, efforts should be made to reform him".

Justice Verma urged the jail officers participating in the workshop to strive for the reformation of prison inmates so that they could become useful members of society. "Imagine yourselves in place of the inmates and then think what you will expect to get. This will lead you in the correct direction". He said that reforming prisoners would improve the law and order situation because even if one person is reformed, it would have beneficial impact on society. It would also give satisfaction to the reformer.

"Over the years, the theory of punishment has undergone radical changes; the approach is now reform oriented. It is now realised that every human being has positive traits, even if he has undergone a period of aberration. It is the responsibility of the prison officials to remove the negative traits and bring the positive ones forward so as to make the person a useful member of society".