Indian Prisons, Prisoners, and Reforms — Are They in Sync?
Prison Reforms in India are well placed and revised consistently to uplift the prisoners’ personal being and social presence. However, are those mere theoretical publications or do we have evidence for their implementation across the Indian Prison System.
Overview
The reformative Theory of Punishment, first coined by Wilde, the Irish Poet, focuses on the reformation, rehabilitation, and transformation of a prisoner into a law-abiding citizen. Prisons, therefore, are considered pivotal institutions intended at winning the very goal of reformation. The concern, however, is to what degree this has been enforced, primarily in India’s context. Through this write-up, Moumita RC Ghosh, author of Are Indian Prisons Equipped to Safeguard Prisoners in a Pandemic Situation, has deep-dived into the matter through factual insights and tried addressing the issue. This write-up aims at analyzing prison reforms in India and highlighting the importance of the Indian Prison System.
The Transition
Evolution — The History of Indian Prisons translates the alterations in the community’s response to offense and offenders from time to time. A well-managed and well-organized Prison System has existed in India since the historic evidence of Brihaspati, from the Sixth BCE. The primary objective of this ancient Prison System was to discourage offenders from re-attempting any offense/ crimes.
Alterations — The Medieval Mughal Rule, however, implemented the Prison and Punishment mechanism with “deterrence” as the primary motive leading to harsh punishments and tortures.
Modernization — Later, the British invaders transitioned the deterrence aimed Prison System into the Modern Colonial Rule. During the English era, the Indian Prison System witnessed radical alterations. It was evident, yet again, that the country’s Prison System was moving from “deterrence” to “rehabilitation,” which further transformed into well-defined criminal law codes like the most recent IPC (or Indian Penal Code).
The Timeline
The timeline below highlights the transitions to the Indian Prison System that began during the British Rules. The table below discusses various legislations and committees formed to reform the prison mechanism in India.
Following are few most relevant Provision for Indian Prisons as per the Indian Constitution.
Prison System in Modern India
Presently, there are seven prison types in India with different strategies to rehabilitate and reform the prison inmates during their detention terms.
Central Government assists the States in directing the Prison Administration in India. According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) statistics, released on December 31, 2019, 1,350 prisons are currently accommodating about 4.80 Lacs in-mates despite the actual capacity to hold nearly 4.05 prisoners. The 2019 count expanded 2.7% and 1.9%, respectively, over the 2018 numbers of about 4.70 Lacs, actual prisoners and over 3.90 Lacs of in-mates keeping capacity of the prisons.
The Ground-Reality of Prison Reforms
The above discussion has revealed that we have a plethora of well-defined rules and regulations for prisons. These guidelines and recommendations have highlighted the importance of Prisons’ Reforms further to support the rehabilitation drive for the overall Prison System. However, the question — How religiously are these rules implemented and followed in actual vis-à-vis Indian Prisons.
To validate the above revelations and deep-dive the ground realities, we shall explore and understand the observations of two major reports — the Prison Statistics Report — 2019 and the India Justice Report — 2020.
Revelations from the Prison Statistics India (PSI) Report 2019
Published by the Ministry of Home Affairs, the statistics reported nearly 1,775 inmates died in custody during 2019, falling 3.8% from the 2018 count of 1,845 (highest in 20 years) custodial deaths. Moreover, the prison occupancy in India has witnessed a massive hike of 71% since 2000, with women prisoners propelling 111.7%. The report also noted that the number of under-trials rose almost 70% of the total prison occupancy.
More gruesome is that the inmate-to-medical staff ratio is as low as 243:1, resulting to deprived health care and custodial deaths. The in-prison deaths rate has grown alarmingly higher than the rise in prisons’ population over the last few years.
Facts from India Justice Report (IJR) 2020
IJR covers the human resources and infrastructure of the Indian Justice System, based on the data facts from the PSI report by the NCRB. India’s prison infrastructure has yet to pace up with the fast-rising inmate population. The report observes that average Indian prison occupancy, in about 21 out of 36 States and Union Territories (UTs), has passed the 100% mark in the last two years. The most overcrowded prisons are in Delhi (175%), Uttar Pradesh (168%), and Uttarakhand (159%).
The report also revealed that the overall prison population has grown to about 4.8 Lacs (PSI 2019) from nearly 4.3 Lacs (PSI 2016), with prisons’ count falling from 1,412 to 1,350 throughout the period.
Besides, with several unsustainable sub-jails shutting down during 2016–19, jail inmates had to move to the nearest district or central prisons that overcrowded the in-jail occupancy to 19%, a 5-percentage point hike from the 2016 levels. Major factors contributing to the overcrowded prisons include unnecessary arrests, conservative bail granting approach, uncertain legal aid access, trial delays, and ineffective monitoring mechanisms, like Under Trial Review Committees.
Highlighting the grimmer situation of India’s Legal Aid Services, the report showed that during 2019–20 none of the 36 States and UTs has utilized the entire budget, granted by the National Legal Services Authority (NLSA), for maintaining State Legal Aid Clinics. The report revealed that correctional staff vacancies across 27 States/ UTs range from 100% vacant posts to no vacancies. The national average stands at one probation/ welfare officer for over 1,600 prisoners and a single psychologist/psychiatrist for more than 16,000 inmates. Moreover, lawyers’ vacancies at District Legal Services Authority (DLSA), including 16 out of 18 large and mid-sized states, stand at over 25%. All these factors translate into the preceding tier of the Indian Justice System.
The 2020 IJR report underlined the inadequate budgets for the States’ Prison Reforms noted to be the primary reason for the current injured State of the Indian Prison System. Records show that 22 of 36 States/ UTs have spent just about INR 30,000 per inmate annually for basic amenities, while 18 of 36 States/ UTs spent nearly 90% of their annual budget on Prison Reforms.
Despite the Mulla Committee’s recommendations that the States must shell out sufficient funds for Prison Reforms, the data facts stand flipped. Prison Reforms in India, therefore, are mere overstated publications that have yet to materialize.
COVID-19 and Prisoners’ Plight
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has destabilized the socio-economic functioning worldwide. With the deadly diseases challenging humankind in every dimension, global prison administrations witnessed the most terrible impact. Unhygienic conditions of the overcrowded prisons have made it difficult to implement basic preventive measures, like wearing masks, visitors’-inmates’ sanitization, and social distancing. Thus, the risk of contracting this contagious disease in jails has increased rapidly. We recommend reading Are Indian Prisons Equipped to Safeguard Prisoners in a Pandemic Situation by Moumita RC Ghosh for more insights. She has discussed the current situation and impacts during COVID-19 on Indian Prisons.
Recommendations/ Suggestions on Prison Reforms
Now that we understand the importance of Prison Reforms in India and the present distressed state Indian Prison and Judiciary System let us quickly glance into few realistic measures that, the Nation’s Judiciary Machinery has inferred to improve India’s Prison System.
- The prison legislation must ensure the enforcement of fundamental rights, including justice and fair treatment of the inmates. Prisons’ must focus on internalizing, individualize, and bring positive changes in prisoners, instead consider being an institution promoting harassment, inhumanity, and insensitive demeanor.
- Education surely plays a pivotal role in reforming the prisoners’ stature. In-prison edification, including vocational training, can allow inhabitants’ to live a dignified life post their release.
- Landmark recommendations for enforcing Prison Reforms could be through:
— Lowering the prison occupancy rate.
— Assuring Prompt Trials.
— Eliminating in-prison humiliations and tortures.
— Establishing well-managed in-prison infrastructure — including health and basic amenities.
— Implementing advanced communication mediums — like conference calling (especially during pandemics like COVID-19).
- Reducing the in-prison mortality rate by identifying vulnerable prisoners and supervising them to cope-up and reduce their emotional distress can also contribute to enhancing in-prison rehabilitation. Besides, inmates’ hygiene and sensitization should be encouraged for a rooted impact.
- Detained prisoners must get immediate legal aid with the aim of Speedy Trial from the nearest Legal Aid Committee. The State should also settle the costs involved while severely reprimand any violations.
Moumita recommends, for reformative Prison Reforms in India, the Administrations bring in action the suggested above reforms at the preliminary arrest phase only.
To Conclude
The modern perspective is that prisons are no more a place for offenders’ deterrence and retribution. Instead, they are now more an institution for reformation, redemption, and self-introspection. The guiding principle behind the prison reforms is to help prisoners with their rehabilitation under civilized and reasonable circumstances. Contemporary India has major case laws and various other sound judgments that firmly form the pedestal for Prison Reforms. Administrations must act promptly and smartly to eliminate despairs of jail inhabitants. States also step forward pro-actively to improvise the overall Criminal Justice System. They must assess, evaluate, and take affirmative steps to safeguard and implement the constitutional and legislative framework of the Prison System. Besides, there is a definite need to allocate proper fiscal budgets to fund the construction and renovation of penal complexes to tackle in-prison overcrowding and in-jail unhygienic conditions.
Therefore, it is of utmost importance that the Indian Prison Reformatory Schemes strive more for prisoners’ rehabilitation and reintegration while ensuring a respected lifestyle after their freedom.
