The Centre scuttles second phase prison reforms!

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The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has scuttled the second phase of prison reforms involving a cost of Rs.13, 962.60 crores, maintaining that the States and Union Territories have been awarded 10 per cent higher sums from the Central divisible pool of resources by the Fourteenth Finance Commission from the existing 32 per cent to 42 per cent. According to the MHA, enhanced devolution provides enough space to the States and Union Territories to fund prison reform on their own. The 14th Finance Commission has rejected the MHA proposal containing inputs from all States and Union Territories on account of the fact that States and Union Territories have got higher allocation enabling them to provide for second phase of prison modernization and there was no need for the Central Government to continue with such reforms.

Official sources in the MHA states that in the absence of specific allocation in favour of Central Government for prison reforms by the 14th Finance Commission, with appropriate prioritization the States and Union Territories should be able to meet the required expenditure on modernization of jails. The first phase of prison reforms with a total outlay of Rs.1800 crores ended on March 31, 2009. The Union Government in the MHA considered a follow up scheme of second phase of modernization of prisons to consolidate the gains of the first phase of jail reforms. As no funds have been earmarked for the scheme, the second phase of modernization of prisons has not been launched.

Well, in the scheme of the Constitution of India and the rule of law based democratic governance there under, prison is a State subject under List 11 of the Seventh Schedule. Prison administration is, therefore, primary responsibility of States and Union Territories.

As for the States and Union Territories, jail reforms are not their priority. However, States and Union Territories will be least accountable in this regard in the absence of direction, superintendence and control of the Union MHA. There will also not be uniform standards of reforms across the country, People will be left in lurch to fend for themselves. Jail conditions will continue to remain appalling.

There are 1382 jails across the country. Presently, there are 3,85,135 inmates in all the prisons against the capacity of 3,43,169. Jails are over crowded. According to the MHA, overcrowding in jails is mostly by under trials. To reduce overcrowding, the MHA has issued advisory to States and Union Territories on use of Section 436A (maximum period for detention of under trial prisoner) of the Criminal Procedure Code. Added to this, the Supreme Court of India has also issued directives in Bhim Singh Case for the judiciary to liquidate actively such cases in a time bound manner. In another directive by the Supreme Court of India in a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) on inhuman conditions in jails, all the district review committees were to finalise such cases by the end of June 2015.

 

Jail reforms have taken a back seat despite four Central reports on prison modernization including their conversion into reform centres for the inmates. Mulla Committee in 1983, Kapoor Committee in 1986, Iyer Committee in 1987, and a Parliamentary Committee on Empowerment of Women in 2001 reported appalling, pathetic, unhygienic and awful conditions marked by overcrowding of the prisons. These committees have recommended replacement of dilapidated prisons, improvement of living conditions, provision of medical and psychiatric services, vocational training, gainful employment, educational programme, improvement in the conditions of women prisoners, segregation of prisoners, provision of free legal aid, speedy trial, humane and dignified treatment of prisoners.

There still remains a question mark whether desired prison reforms have taken place in keeping with a modicum of our rule of law based system of democratic governance to ensure basic human rights to Indian prisoners!

 

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