List of Sub-Topics:

• Introduction
• Prisons in India
• Kinds of Prisoners
• Problems Related to Indian Prisons
• Prison Reforms – Before Independence
• Prison Reforms – After Independence
• Techniques of Prison Reforms
• Recommendations
• Conclusion

There is no society without crime and criminals. That is why prison is indispensable for every country. Punishing the offenders is a primary function of civil society. The objective of punishment can be achieved by imprisonment. An imprisonment plays an important role in protecting the community against the most dangerous offenders and in punishing the most serious crimes. Prisonization symbolizes a system of punishment and a sort of institutional placement for convicts and undertrials during the period of trial. In this article, we shall discuss prison reforms in India.

To imprison means to confine or physically restrict one’s personal liberty, usually in a jail or prison. Jails are usually local facilities under the jurisdiction of a city, local district. Jails are short-term holding facilities for the newly arrested and those awaiting trial or sentencing. Prisons are institutional facilities under the jurisdiction of the state government where convicted offenders serve longer sentences. People who have been found guilty of breaking a state law are usually sent to a prison.

Prison Administration:

Section 3 of the Prisons Act, 1894 defines Prisons as a Prison means any jail or place used permanently or temporarily under general or special orders of the state government for the detention of prisoners and include all lands and buildings but does not include any place for the confinement of prisoners who are exclusively in the custody of the police. The Prison administration involves security and discipline. It involves enforcement of rules and regulations in the management of prison system.

The contemporary prison administration in India is a legacy of the British Rule. The administration of prisons is a crucial part of the criminal justice system. With a shift in the way society views jail and convicts, the previous penal system, which involved forcibly confining inmates and depriving them of their freedoms as a form of punishment, has been altered. It is now regarded as a correctional or improvement centre, which shows that reforming criminals is given more priority than punishing them.

Prisons in India:

India follows the international obligations and guidelines with respect to the care of prisoners and various steps are being taken towards prison reform. According to the UN Global Report on Crime and Justice 1999, the rate of imprisonment in our country is very low, i.e., 25 prisoners per one lakh of population, in comparison to Australia (981 prisoners), England (125 prisoners), USA (616 prisoners) and Russia (690 prisoners) per one lakh population. A large chunk of prison population is dominated by first offenders (around 90%) The rate of offenders and recidivists in prison population of Indian jails is 9:l while in the UK it is 12:1, which is quite revealing and alarming.

Despite the relatively low number of persons in prison as compared to many other countries in the world, there are some very common problems across prisons in India, and the situation is likely to be the same or worse in many developing countries

Prison is a State subject under List-II of the Seventh Schedule in the Constitution. The management and administration of Prisons falls exclusively in the domain of the State Governments, and is governed by the Prisons Act, 1894 and the Prison Manuals of the respective State Governments. Thus, States have the primary role, responsibility and power to change the current prison laws, rules and regulations. Important statutes which have a bearing on the regulation and management of prisons in the country are:

• The Indian Penal Code, 1860.
• The Prisons Act, 1894.
• The Prisoners Act, 1900.
• The Identification of Prisoners Act, 1920.
• Constitution of India, 1950
• The Transfer of Prisoners Act, 1950.
• The Representation of People Act, 1951.
• The Prisoners (Attendance in Courts) Act, 1955.
• The Probation of Offenders Act, 1958.
• The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.
• The Mental Health Act, 1987.
• The Juvenile Justice (Care & Protection) Act, 2000.
• The Repatriation of Prisoners Act, 2003.
• Model Prison Manual (2016).

Kinds of Prisoners:

Prison inmates lodged in various prisons are categorised as pre-trial prisoners, undertrial prisoners, and convicted prisoners. This population can also be further classified on other parameters such as Gender, Nationality, Mental health etc.

Pre-Trial Prisoners:

Pre-trial prisoners are the accused, detained who are under the custody of the state for the purpose of interrogation and investigation based on FIR or evidences found during the investigation. They are in the custody of state for very limited period.

Under Trial Prisoners:

Under trial prisoners are the prisoners who are in the Judicial custody i.e., jail awaiting the trial in their case. Their charge-sheet may or may not have been prepared by the police authority or judiciary.

Convicted Prisoners:

Convicted prisoners are the prisoners who are found to be guilty of some particular offence which is committed by him after due process of law. They are punished by the competent court as a penal action to be kept in prison.

Problems Related to Indian Prisons:

Despite the relatively low number of persons in prisons as compared to many other countries in the world, there are some very serious problems in prisons across India. These are: overcrowding, prolonged detention of undertrials, unsatisfactory living conditions, staff shortage and poor training, corruption and extortion, inadequate social reintegration programes, poor spending on healthcare and welfare, lack of legal aid and allegations of indifferent and even inhuman approach of prison staff among others. On some occasions, such as the blinding of prisoners in Bhagalpur, the stark human rights situation also attracted great attention. The murder of a woman life convict in the Byculla women’s prison in Mumbai in June 2017 has brought the focus back on custodial violence, especially the vulnerability of inmates to authoritarian behaviour.

Overcrowding:

Prisons are overcrowded and there is shortage of adequate space. The major reason of overcrowding is confinement of undertrials in the prison and a large numbers of pending cases. For instance, 67 percent of offenders in India, 20 percent of criminals in the United States, and 11 percent of criminals in the United Kingdom are awaiting trial.  The prisoners’ resources are impacted by the overcrowding. India has several overcrowded jails, with institutions built to house a specific number of inmates being crammed to the jails. To decrease the prison overcrowding the under-trial population has to be reduced drastically.

Shortage of staff:

The prisons are understaffed, and this causes violence, a lack of security, and other criminal activity inside jails since there is insufficient oversight. According to the Prison Act of 1894 and the Prisoner Act of 1900, each jail is required to have a welfare officer and a law officer, but these positions have not yet been filled.

Sexual Abuse:

Prisons are institutions that lodge people of same sex together. Being removed from their natural partners, forces the prisoners to look for alternative ways to satisfy their sexual urges. This often finds vent in homosexual abuses where young and feeble are targeted. Resistance leads to aggravated violence. At times, prisoners are subjected to massive homosexual gang-rapes. Apart from causing severe physical injuries and spreading sexually transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS, it also induces severe trauma in prisoners forcing some of them to commit suicide. The victims carry a lot of anger and frustration in themselves, which they take out on the next innocent person.

Violence:

Prison violence refers to acts resulting in injury to the person or property of another individual within the realms of prison walls. Prison violence is quite prevalent in both male and female inmate populations. Instead of one singular cause, prison violence is thought to have several factors that can influence its prevalence. Some causes of prison violence include: poor prison management, overcrowding in jails, gang activity, and breaking of “prison code” by inmates

Torture:

Torture is routine activity in jails. Although the Indian law considers extra judicial confession as inadmissible but still the police torture the accused to the extent that many times they die in the custody. According to Prison Statistics 2015 by National Crime Record Bureau a total number of 1,584 deaths were recorded in jails in the year 2015 out of which 115 were unnatural. Corruption is the reason behind police torturing the inmates. When they get the money from the accused or his family, he is not tortured by police but the one who is unable to pay gets tortured.

Lack of Health Facilities:

Lack of space caused due to overcrowding results into mental and physical torture of inmates. They also create lack in sanitation facilities and results into diseases caused to inmates which are rarely treated due to lack in proper medical care. At the same time, most of the prisoners already come from socio-economically disadvantaged sections of the society where diseases, malnutrition and absence of medical services are prevalent. When such people are cramped in with each other in unhealthy conditions, infectious and communicable diseases spread easily. The ones who were taken to hospital were also not lucky because of the lack of infrastructure and medical staff at the hospital.

Mental Health of prisoners:

Mental illness may develop during imprisonment or be present even before admission to the prison. Among people who are biologically prone to mental disorders, the stress of being in prison can precipitate the illness. Such disorders can also develop due to the prevailing prison conditions and may be due to torture or other human rights violations. In addition, prisoners are deprived of their liberty leading to deprivation of choices taken for granted in the outside community: they can no longer freely decide where to live, with whom to associate and how to fill their time, and must submit to discipline imposed by others. Communication with families and friends is often limited. Moreover, prisoners may have guilt feelings

Drug Abuse:

Besides murder, attempt to murder and other serious anti-personal offences, people booked under the anti-drug laws constitute a substantial percentage of the prison population. Being in prison and cut off from the free world, sees an increased desperation to get the banned substances to satisfy their addictions to drugs.

Corruption and Extortion:

Extortion by prison staff, and its less aggressive corollary, guard corruption, is common in prisons around the world. The guards exercise substantial power over the inmates and the lust for easy money allures them for these evils. In exchange for contraband or special treatment, inmates supplement guards’ salaries with bribes. There are incidents where powerful inmates enjoyed cellular phones, rich diets, and comfortable lodgings even in prisons.

Non-Separation of Inmates:

According to Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners 1955 by United Nations under trials must be kept separated from convicts, female from male, juvenile from adults’ offenders, civil offenders from criminal offenders. But little have been achieved. If separation is not done, there are severe chances of contamination of the first time, circumstantial & young offenders into full-fledged criminals being huddled with hard core criminals of heinous crimes in the same prisons.

Women in Jails:

Women prisoners confront a number of difficulties, including inadequate dietary intake, poor sanitation and hygiene, and certain instances of custodial rape in which victims are pressured to remain silent. Krishna Iyer Committee of Jail Reform suggested to have more women officer’s recruitment for tackling women and children.

History of Prison Reforms in India:

Prison Reforms – Before Independence:

• The concept of modern prison in India originated with the Minute by TB Macaulay in 1835. A Prison Discipline Committee was appointed which submitted its report on 1838. The committee recommended increased rigorousness of treatment while rejecting all humanitarian needs and reform of prisoners. Following the recommendations of the Committee, Central Prisons were constructed from 1846. The contemporary Prison administration in India is thus a legacy of British rule. It is based on the notion that the best criminal code can be of little use to a community unless there is good machinery for the infliction of punishment.
• In 1864, the Second Commission of Inquiry into Jail Management and Discipline made similar recommendations as the 1838 Committee. In addition, this Commission made some specific suggestions regarding accommodation for prisoners, improvement in diet, clothing, bedding and medical care.
• In 1888, the Fourth Jail Commission was appointed. On the basis of its recommendations, a consolidated prison bill was formulated. Provisions regarding jail offences and punishment were specially examined by a committee of experts on Jail Management. In 1894, the draft bill became law with the assent of the Viceroy. It is this Act which forms the basis for the present-day jail management and administration in India. This Act has hardly undergone any substantial changes since its inception. However, the process of review of prison problems in India continued.
• In the report of the Indian Jail Committee 1919-20 headed by Sir Alexander Cardio, for the first time in the history of prisons, ‘reformation and rehabilitation’ of offenders were identified as the objectives of prison. As a measure of prison reform, the jail committee further recommended that the maximum intake capacity of each jail should be fixed, depending its shape and size.
• The Government of India Act 1935 resulted in the transfer of the subject of jails from the Central List to the control of Provincial Governments and henceforth reduced the possibility of uniform implementation of a prison policy at the national level. Thus, State Governments have their own rules and regulations for the day to day administration of prisons, maintenance of prisoners, and prescribing procedures.
• A Jail Reform committee, 1946 was constituted in the year 1946 for the formation of the jails. This committee gave the suggestions as the child offenders should be treated differently, modern jails should be constructed and the classification of offenders should be women offenders, habitual offenders, handicapped offenders.

Prison Reforms – After Independence:

The Pakwasa Committee:

After independence, various Committees were appointed to improve the condition of prisons in India. The Pakwasa Committee in 1949 suggested the system of utilizing prisoners as labour for road work without any intensive supervision over them. It was from this time onwards that a system of wages for prisoners for their labour was introduced. Subsequently, certain liberal provisions were also introduced in jails manuals by which well-behaved inmates were rewarded with remission in their sentence.

Dr. W.C. Reckless Suggestions:

In 1951, the Government of India invited the United Nations expert on correctional work, Dr. W.C. Reckless, to undertake a study on prison administration and to suggest policy reforms. His report titled ‘Jail Administration in India’ made a plea for transforming jails into reformation centers. He also recommended the revision of outdated jail manuals. Some of the salient recommendations made by Dr. W. C. Reckless are as under :-

• Juvenile delinquents should not be handed over by the courts to the prisons which are meant for adult offenders.
• A cadre of properly trained personnel was essential to man prison services.
• Specialized training of correctional personnel should be introduced.
• Outdated Prison Manuals be revised suitably and legal substitutes be introduced for short sentences.
• Full time Probation and Revising Boards be set up for the aftercare services and also the establishment of such boards for selection of prisoners for premature release.
• An integrated Department of Correctional Administration be set up in each State comprising of Prisons, Borstals, Children institutions, probation services and after-care services.
• An Advisory Board for Correctional Administration be set up at the Central Government level to help the State Governments in development of correctional programmes.
• A national forum be created for exchange of professional expertise and experience in the field of correctional administration.
• A conference of senior staff of correctional departments be held periodically at regular intervals.

Model Prison Manual:

In 1952, the Eighth Conference of the Inspectors General of Prisons also supported the recommendations of Dr. Reckless regarding prison reform. Accordingly, the Government of India appointed the All India Jail Manual Committee in 1957 to prepare a model prison manual. The committee submitted its report in 1960.

The Model Prison Manual 1960 is the guiding principle for prison management in India. On the lines of the Model Prison Manual 1960, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, in 1972, appointed a working group on prisons. It brought out in its report the need for a national policy on prisons. It also made an important recommendation with regard to the classification and treatment of offenders and laid down certain principles.

In pursuance to the recommendations made by Dr. W. C. Reckless and also by the All India Jail Manual Committee, the Central Bureau of Correctional Services was set up under the Ministry of Home Affairs in 1961 to formulate a uniform policy and to advise the State Governments on the latest methods relating to jail administration, probation, after-care, juvenile and remand homes, certified and reformatory schools, Borstals and protective homes, suppression of immoral traffic, etc.

In 1964, the Central Bureau of Correctional Services was transferred from the Ministry of Home Affairs to the newly created Department of Social Security, now known as Department of Social Justice and Empowerment under the Ministry of Human Resource Development. However, the Bureau continued to be attached to the Ministry of Home Affairs for various matters concerning prison administration and reforms. Its Director was latter designated as Ex-officio Prison Advisor.

National Policy on Prisons:

In 1972, the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, appointed a Working Group on Prisons which presented its report in 1973. This Working Group brought out in its report the need for a National Policy on Prisons. Its salient features are as under:

• To make effective use of alternatives to imprisonment as a measure of sentencing policy.
• Emphasized the desirability of proper training of prison personnel and improvement in their service conditions.
• To classify and treat the offenders scientifically and laid down principles of follow-up and after-care procedures.
• That the development of prisons and the correctional administration should no longer remain divorced from the national development process and the prison administration should be treated as an integral part of the social defence components of national planning process.
• Identified an order of priority for the development of prison administration.
• The certain aspects of prison administration be included in the Five Year Plans.
• An amendment to the Constitution be brought to include the subject of prisons and allied institutions in the Concurrent List, the enactment of suitable prison legislation by the Centre and the States, and the revision of State Prison Manuals be undertaken.

Conference of Chief Secretaries of all the States and Union Territories:

The Government of India convened a Conference of Chief Secretaries of all the States and Union Territories on April 9, 1979, in order to assess the gaps in the existing prison management system and to lay down guidelines for standardization of prison conditions throughout the country. This Conference made a detailed examination of the issues pertaining to prison administration and on the basis of the consensus arrived at the Conference, the Government of India requested the State Governments and Union Territory Administrations:-

• to revise their prison manuals on the lines of the Model Prison Manual by the end of the year;
• to appoint Review Committees for the undertrial prisoners at the district and state levels;
• to provide legal aid to indigent prisoners and to appoint whole-time or part-time law officers in prisons;
• to enforce existing provisions with respect to grant of bail and to liberalize bail system after considering all its aspects;
• to strictly adhere to the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, with regard to the limitations on time for investigation and inquiry;
• to ensure that no child in conflict with law be sent to the prison for want of specialized services under the Central Children Act, 1960.
• to have at least one Borstal School set up under the Borstal Schools Act, 1929 for youthful offenders in each State;
• to create separate facilities for the care, treatment and rehabilitation of women offenders;
• to arrange for the treatment of lunatics in specialized institutions;
• to provide special camp accommodation under conditions of minimum security to political agitators coming to prisons;
• to prepare a time bound programme for improvement in the living conditions of prisoners with priority attention to sanitary facilities, water supply, electrification and to send it to the Ministry of Home Affairs for approval;
• To develop systematically the programmes of education, training and work in prisons;
• To strengthen the machinery for inspection, supervision and monitoring of prison development programme and to ensure that the financial provisions made for upgradation of prison administration by the Seventh Finance Commission are properly utilized;
• To organize a systematic programme of prison personnel training on State and Regional level;
• To abolish the system of convict officers in a phased manner;
• To mobilize additional resources for modernization of prisons and development of correctional services in prison;
• To set up a State Board of Visitors to visit prisons at regular periodicity and to report on conditions prevailing in the prisons for consideration of the State Government;
• To examine and furnish views to Government of India on proposal for setting up of the National Board of Visitors.

The Mulla Committee:

The Government of India set up a committee under the chairmanship of Justice Anand Narain Mulla in 1980 for prison reforms. This committee submitted its report in 1983. Some of the prominent recommendations of the Mulla committee are:

• Improving prison condition by making available proper food, clothing, sanitation,
• The prison staff to be properly trained and organized into different cadres. Setting up an All India Service called the Indian Prisons & Correctional Service.
• After-care, rehabilitation and probation to be an integral part of prison service.
• The press and public to be allowed inside prisons and allied correctional institutions periodically, so that the public may have first-hand information about the conditions of prisons and be willing to co-operate in rehabilitation work.
• Undertrials in jails to be reduced to bare minimum and they be kept away from convicts. Undertrials constitute a sizable portion of prison population. Their number to be reduced by speedy trial and liberalization of bail provisions.
• The Government may make an effort to provide adequate financial resources.

The Krishna Iyer Committee:

In 1987, the Government of India appointed the Justice Krishna Iyer Committee to undertake a study on the situation of women prisoners in India. The Committee recommended for recruitment of more women staff in jails to handle women and child offenders.

Other Developments:

• In the year 1986, A Juvenile Justice Act was enacted and observation homes, special homes and juvenile homes were constituted where the neglected children and juvenile delinquent can be admitted and the juvenile delinquent cannot be kept within the prison.
• An attempt was made to repeal 1894 Prison Act and bring in a new legislation in 1998 on the direction of Supreme Court in the case of Ramamurthy v. State of Karnataka, AIR 1997 SC 1739 to bring a uniformity in prison laws and prepare model prison manual. The new bill was never passed.
• Meanwhile, a Model Prison Manual was prepared in 2003 by evolving national consensus on relevant issues relating to prison reforms in India and circulated to all State Governments for guidance. With the passage of time and after having gained a better understanding of ground realities, a need was felt to revise and update the Manual to reflect the developments of the past decade.

The Model Prison Manual 2016:

An expert committee was constituted in 2014 to revamp the Model Prison Manual prepared in 2003. The expert committee extensively reviewed the model prison manual and came up with a draft Model Prison Manual in 2016. The Model Prison Manual 2016 was finalized with the approval of the Home Ministry and circulated to all States and Union Territories for their guidance. The new manual aims at bringing uniformity in laws, rules and regulations governing prison administration and management of prisoners all over the country. Its key features include an emphasis on prison computerization, special provisions for women prisoners, focus on after care services, prison inspections, rights of prisoners sentenced to death, repatriation of foreign prisoners, enhanced focus on prison correctional staff, to name a few.

Amitava Rao Committee:

Supreme Court on September 25, 2018 constituted a committee headed by its former judge Justice Amitava Rao to inquire into jail reforms across the country and suggest measures to handle them.

Techniques of Prison Reforms:

The desired goal of reformation or rehabilitation of criminals is achieved through various tools and techniques in the institution of jail. Some such tools and techniques of prison reforms are as follows:

Probation:

The word Probation is a very significant tool of reformative penology; it is basically a period during which the convict ordered to undergo sentence remains, instead of being in prison, under supervision. The release of the convict on probation serves as a reformative treatment plan prescribed by the convicting court and in the course of this treatment, the conviction on probation lives within his community and modulates his own life under conditions imposed by the court and remains under the supervision of a probation officer. The Probation of Offenders Act, 1958 gives provisions for probation.

Parole:

Parole has been defined as a conditional release of a prisoner, generally under supervision of a parole officer, who has served part of the term for which he was sentenced to prison. Thus, parole is the release from a penal reformative institution of a criminal who remains under the control of correctional authorities in an attempt to find out whether he is fit to live in the free society without supervision. It is thus the last stage in the correctional scheme of which probation may probably be the first. After the careful study as well as showing the potential for correction he is allowed to join the society conditionally. The grant of Parole in India is administered by the rules made under the Prison Act, 1894 and Prisoner Act, 1900.

Furlough:

Furlough is another reformatory tool that is often confused with parole. Furlough is given in cases of long-term imprisonment. A prisoner’s sentence is considered to be remitted during his furlough time. Furlough must be granted to the prisoner periodically irrespective of any particular reason. The object behind this tool is merely to enable him to retain family and social ties and avoid negative effects of a continuous prison life. The period of furlough is treated as remission of sentence. The right to be released on furlough is a substantial and legal right of the prisoner, and it cannot be rejected if permitted by law.

Pardon:

The term pardon as an act of mercy by which the prisoner is absolved from the penalty which was imposed on him, the grant of pardon may be absolute or conditional. In India, there are certain provisions which are contained in Article 72 and 161 of the Indian constitution provides that the President of India and the Governors of the states respectively are empowered to grant pardon, reprieve or commute the sentence of any convict.

Work Release:

Work release is considered to be a very effective reformation tool in modern criminal justice. In this method, the prisoner is allowed to work for pay in the society for part time basis. This gives him an opportunity to mix up with the society in a normal manner without any limitations. This helps the prisoners to adjust in the situation at the work place after the release.

Open Prisons:

All prisoners are not dangerous criminals and not even some of those who have committed serious offences. Many developed countries, like Finland which is a pioneer in the open jail concept, have introduced open prisons. There are no bars or no uniforms. Instead of old style cells, there are rooms with bed, neat toilets, kitchen, televisions, etc. Prisoners go for long walks, tend the garden, and more importantly they are paid reasonably for their work. The advantage is that it makes detainees better prepared to return to society. The management cost of such prisons is 33 per cent lower than the traditional prisons. Hoshangabad, in Madhya Pradesh has an open prison built on 17 acres of land, where convicts during the last two years of their sentence are transferred from other prisons in the State to make them familiar with reformed environs. Prisoners go out for work daily like normal people do from their homes and return at the end of the day.

The positive effects of open prisons are –

• It lessens the damage to offenders and society
• It reduces the overcrowding in prisons
• It costs far less for the State to have people living in open prison than to pay for their upkeep in the jails and
• finally It inculcates a sense of social responsibility towards family and society

in Dharambeer v State of U.P. the court observed that the institution of open prisons has certain advantages in the context of young offenders who could be protected from some of the well-known vices to which they were subjected to in ordinary jails. However, the concept of open prisons needs to be given more publicity in our country to bring the focus of society to reformed offenders. Apart from agriculture based open prisons it is suggested that there should be open prisons with an industrial / manufacturing base as well. Open Prisons for women should also be encouraged.

Recommendations:

The following modification in prison administration can be suggested for improving the efficiency of these institutions are:

• The subject of prisons and allied institutions should be moved from the State List to the Concurrent List of the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India;
• The State shall provide free legal aid to all needy prisoners;
• A uniform and comprehensive legislation embodying modern principles and procedures regarding reformation and rehabilitation of offenders should be enacted;
• Probation, aftercare, rehabilitation and follow-up of offenders shall form an integral part of the functions of the Department of Prisons and Correctional Services;
• The State shall endeavour to evolve proper mechanism to ensure that no undertrial prisoner is unnecessarily detained;
• The State shall endeavour to provide in law new alternatives to imprisonment such as community service, forfeiture of property, payment of compensation to victims, public censure, etc., in addition to the ones already existing.
• The State shall specially ensure that the Probation of Offenders Act, 1958, is effectively implemented throughout the country;
• The offenders should be confined to prison for only a minimum period which is absolutely necessary for their custody. The elimination of long-term sentences would reduce burden on prison expenditure;
• Living conditions in every prison and allied institution meant for the custody, care, treatment and rehabilitation of offenders shall be compatible with human dignity in all aspects such as accommodation, hygiene, sanitation, food, clothing, medical facilities, etc;
• The prisoners are allowed to meet their near relatives at fixed intervals yet there is a further need to allow them certain privacy during such meetings;
• Mentally ill prisoners shall not be confined in prisons. Proper arrangements shall be made for the care and treatment of mentally ill prisoners;
• Women offenders shall, as far as possible, be confined in separate institutions specially meant for them. Wherever such arrangements are not possible they shall be kept in separate annexes of prisons with proper arrangements;
• The women prisoners should be allowed to meet their sons and daughters more frequently and should be more liberal in case of under trial prisoners. It will keep them mentally fit. Women offenders should be handled only by women police or prison officials as well as the idea of setting up of separate women jails exclusively for women prisoners.
• There is need for scientific classification of prisoners based on the nature of crime committed, age, sex and character.
• The under trials, minors and first offenders should be kept separated from each other. The young prisoners also should be separated from adults.
• Payment of fair wages and other incentives shall be associated with work programmes to encourage inmate participation in such programmes.
• The incentives of leave, remission and premature release to convicts shall also be utilized for improvement of their behaviour.
• The Prisoners belonging to peasant class should be afforded an opportunity to go to their fields during harvesting season on temporary ticket on leave so that they can look after their agriculture.
• Women prisoners should be provided training in tailoring, doll making, embroidary, etc. The prisoners who are well educated should not be subjected to rigorous imprisonment instead they should be engaged in some mental as well as manual productive work.
• There is a dire need to bring about a change in the public attitude towards the prison institutions and their management. This is possible through an intensive programmes using the media of press. The media men should be allowed to enter into prison so that their misunderstanding about prison administration may be cleared. It will certainly create a right climate in society to accept the released prisoners with sympathy without any hatred for them.

Important Case Laws:

• Sunil Batra v. Delhi Administration AIR 1978 SC1675
• D. K. Basu v. State of West Bengal 50 AIR 1997 SC 610
• Rudal Shah v. State of Bihar 1983 AIR 1086
• Sanjay Suri v. Delhi Administration (1988) Cr LJ 705 (SC)
• Sheela Barse v. State of Maharashtra AIR 1983 SC 378
• Dharambir v. State of U.P (2010) 5 SCC 344
• Re Inhuman Conditions in 1382 Prisoners case

Conclusion:

Looking at the recommendations made by various Jail Reform Committees, we can conclude that very few recommendations have been implemented till now. Establishment of committees is not the need; the need is to implement those recommendations given by earlier committees. The Government needs to understand that prisoners are humans too and provide them basic facilities. More financial resources should be allocated to prisons so that proper facilities can be given to the inmates. Rehabilitation and reformation of prisoner are necessary to reduce crime, providing them a better life after their sentence is completed.