Prison Reforms in India || Is it important ?

The Question of Prison Reforms is taking an Uprise since SC said it would constitute a committee under the chairmanship of its retired judge to look into problems in jails, including overcrowding, and suggest measures to deal with it.


Prison Condition in India

• India has a total of 1387 functional jails in India with a total capacity to house approximately 3.5 Lakh prisoners but the total number of prisoners in these jails is around 4.18 Lakhs.
• Some jails in the country are overcrowded by more than 100 percent and a few by margins of a staggering 500 percent.
• Poor Sanitation and living facility to inmates leading to illness
• Corruption is quite common, leading to the smuggling of weapons in prison. Which leads to many deaths in gang rivalry inside the prison.
• inequality is often observed inside the prison on the basis of their caste, religion by the Police authorities.
•  The women prisoners face sexual violence. 
• Kids of imprisoned people had to stay until they are 6 years old.

Take a look at - [PDF] Prison Stats of India

Justice Mulla Committee Report (1983)

• The government should come up with a National Policy on Prisons.
• In every state and UT, a Department of Prisons and Correctional Services should be set up.
• The government should try to develop a well-organized prison cadre 
• there should be the procedure for speedy trial and simplified bail process
• Living conditions in every prison, custody care, rehabilitation centers should be compatible with human dignity in all aspects such as accommodation, hygiene, sanitation, food, clothing, medical facilities, etc
• Payment of fair wages and other incentives of leave, remission and premature release to convicts for improvement of their behavior should be incorporated.
• Those convicted for non-violent socio-political economic agitations for public cause shall not be confined in prisons along with other prisoners.
• Young offenders (between 18 to 21 years) shall not be confined in prisons meant for adult offenders.

Justice V. R. Krishna Iyer Committee on Women Prisoners (1987)

• There should be necessary provisions to restore the dignity of women even if convicted under the criminal code. 
• there should be separate institutions for women offenders. And the staff for these institutions should comprise of women employees only.
• The trial and bail processes for unconvinced women should be fast accompanied with facilities for women offenders to meet their loved ones even during the trial
•  the government should provide free legal aid to all women offenders.

Why Prison Reform's are important

• The ones in prison are also humans and they deserve basic human rights
• A culprit sent to prison so that he/she could understand their mistake and come out as a developed human. 
• Staying in a hell like an environment may make them even worse, and they could become even  serious criminal in that environment
• Kids living in Prison grow up among criminals, so there is a high chance they may also get in the wrong field.
• Even on the world's scale "Vijay Mallya extradition case is lagging, because of the poor conditions of  Indian Prison's"