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| INDIA: Mobile Phones and drug menace in jail |
| By timesofindia.indiatimes.com |
| Published: 06/02/2009 |
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Mobile and drug menace in jail unchecked, admits MHA LUCKNOW, INDIA - Overcrowding, use of mobile phones and drugs in various district jails by prisoners was widely seen and admitted by various government officials. Now, the admission comes from none other than the ministry of home affairs, Government of India (GoI) which has admitted that the conditions of jails in the country have not improved despite modernisation programme undertaken since 2002. The admission comes in response to the feedback report prepared by the criminal justice centre of the Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University in the state capital which has been organising personality development programmes for the jail staff and officials. One such training programme began on Monday with participation of jail authorities from Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Haryana and Tamil Nadu. RC Arora, IG and director (research and development) in the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) in his letter sent to vice-chancellor of RML University, Balraj Chauhan, said that the report prepared by the centre "undoubtedly discloses issues which needs urgent attention''. While discussing various issues point-wise, the director said that the MHA started an ambitious modernisation of prison scheme to address the problem of overcrowding and separation of undertrials from prisoners in 2002-03. In an apparent remark on the jail authorities in the states, Arora said that the participants should have given their feedback on the programmes, he said, stopping short of saying that "they did not''. The problem of overcrowding in jails has gained serious proportion. In case of UP, there are 62 jails having a capacity to house some 40,000 inmates. But against that, there are over 60,000 inmates, making their lives miserable. The modernisation programmes also addressed the bettering of civic facilities in jail premises, which, however, seemingly have gone unaddressed so far. The MHA official further admitted of lack of jail staff to manage the prisoners. But once again the jail staff in the states have not given a proper thought. For example, in UP, as against the desired ratio of one jail official over 60 prisoners, the figures stands something like 1:300, which the MHA declared as alarming. Legal experts too opine that overcrowding and lack of adequate facilities for prisoners go against the Constitution. "After all a prisoner is a human as well,'' said constitutional expert and dean of RML Law University, CM Jariwala. That also affects them psychologically and negates any chances of reform. "Earlier, prisoners were allowed to pursue their hobbies. There have been political prisoners like Bhagat Singh, Acharya Narendra Dev and Nehru who wrote essays even as there was generation of ideas which culminated in the forms of books and articles that had wide application. It is no more the case now,'' said LN Mathur, another legal expert. Arora also expressed the ministry's regret over the jail authorities inability to prevent the use of mobile phones and drugs in jails by the prisoners. He said that this is attributed to the laxity of enforcement by prison staff against smuggling of contraband items into jails. The ministry, Arora said, has started the second phase of the prison modernisation scheme to improve the overall jail security. "All states can embark upon such projects by including the same in their annual action plan for the forthcoming phase-II,'' he said. On the use of drugs by prisoners, the director said, that the prevalence of the problem reflects on the efficiency of prison staff in performing their duties to enforce expected levels of screening against "smuggling of contraband in the jails.'' While the letter exposes various pertinent problems of jails, the officials in the jail said that "the solution goes beyond modernisation programmes.'' A senior jail official said that quite a few prisoners have high political connections which is a deterrent. "Our seniors and juniors know of the pressures. Even they are helpless,'' said an official, pleading anonymity. Jails have been a state subject since the first constitutional framework was placed in 1919. It was retained in 1935 and then in 1947 and 1950. Perhaps that is where the problem starts, a senior faculty member at RML said. Read more. If link has expired, check the website of the article's original news source. |
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