New bill to initiate prison reform soon

George Iype in New Delhi

A new draft Bill on prison reform being finalised by India's home ministry has advocated humane treatment and protection of prisoners lodged in various jails across the country.

The legislation -- the Indian Prison Bill -- will replace the century-old Indian Prison Act, 1894 which human rights experts say is unsuited to cater to the modern requirements of purposeful custody, reformation and treatment of prisoners.

Home ministry sources said the National Human Rights Commission, which has been entrusted with the task of preparing the IPB, will submit it to the government shortly so that it can be introduced in the ongoing Budget session of Parliament.

A home ministry official told Rediff On The NeT that the government wants the IPB to be passed in Parliament as early as possible to ward off international criticism that there is gross violation of human rights in India's jails. Apex human rights watchdogs like Amnesty International and Asia Watch have often accused the Indian government of neglecting thousands of prisoners lodged in various jails.

In 1995-96, the NHRC received as many as 11,472 complaints of human rights violations from prisoners, jails, sub-jails and lock-ups from across the country. NHRC records say there were 444 cases of custodial deaths and rapes that year.

The draft bill deals with a number of pressing problems that plague nearly 50 major prisons and hundreds of jails across the country.

Saying that human rights violations and sexual exploitation including rape of women and juveniles in jails are frequent incidents in Indian jails, the IPB calls for special accommodation facilities for them.

The Bill says the overcrowding of prisons is caused by the presence of undertrials. It, therefore, urges the government to expedite the disposal of cases against undertrials pending in criminal courts all over the country.

It bars the jail authorities from lodging juveniles along with adults and seasoned criminals in prisons.

Other salient features of the Bill are measures to tackle the inadequate daily diet of prisoners, drafting a national law regarding the premature release of prisoners and imparting vocational training facilities for the rehabiliation of criminals.

The Bill says the federal government should 'standardise the overall approach towards prison administration all the over the country by providing a framework for ensuring essential features commonly applicable to all states.'

In an effort to garner an all-India support for the Bill, NHRC chairperson Justice M N Venkatachaliah has written to all state chief ministers urging them to authorise the home ministry to introduce the legislation in Parliament.

Ministry sources said the approval of two or more state governments is necessary to enact the IPB as it is a central law which will be binding on all state prisons.

The government is also preparing a new Jail Manual along with the IPB to be distributed to prisons across the country. Ministry officials said the IPB and the new Jail Manual will largely follows the guidelines established by the United Nations standard minimum rules for the treatment of prisoners, 1957.

The Jail Manual says the state of prisons in India is generally marked by gross over-crowding, squalor and maladministration, 'Suffice to say that the ills of our jails, sub-jails and lock-ups cry out for reform', it points out.