The largest democracy of the world has lately become the center of attraction and along with us, all the nations and their citizens are looking up to the completion of the largest electoral exercise. More than 800 million voters, 100 millions new voters and the gigantic election plan spread over 9 phases just takes your breath away. It is the time when people resume their quinquennial exercise of talking about reforms that the country needs and then eventually casting their votes before going into hibernation till the next general election. The limelight is often on electoral reforms, police reforms and economic reforms. But seldom do we talk about the much needed jail reforms.
Our judicial system is reformative and not punitive, at least on paper. Our jails which are ridiculously overpopulated by prisoners, which are even more unhygienic than the defecated open fields of our country, where prisoners are treated like unproductive cattle on whose fodder the hard earned tax money of Indian citizens is being wasted in vain, these very jails, are suppose to reform them. But it is high time to take a reality check. The inhumane, aggressive and offensive treatment given to these incumbents will only magnify the evil in them. Violence only breeds violence. Yes, they made a mistake. But that should not mean that they be treated with prejudices and biases for eternity. That will only mean they come out more hollow and emotionless ready to bring down the Policing system of the country.
A large section of Indian population wants India to let go the cruel capital punishment. It is not in sync with the principles and values of our society. Yes Yes, and putting them in a small dingy cell with ten other criminals where they cannot even keep a count of getting sodomized is so in sync with our ideals. We must understand that in order to completely get rid of capital punishment, we must have the capacity to reform those who have fallen. If we cannot provide that, the repercussions would be catastrophic. And that way we would only be breeding criminals in the jails. Today we are a prismatic society where our institutions are developing and conflicts are bound to happen. The inequalities are glaring and some proletariat sections might rebel breaking the law and order and living the Marxian dream and the bourgeoisie nightmare. In the absence of a proper reformatory system, we just cannot afford to keep the dangerous criminals with the other lot.
Recently I came across a ray of hope in this direction when i got my hands on the Annual Review of the Delhi Prisons which proudly highlights the various projects taken up in Tihar Jail which makes it one of the most unique jails in the whole world. We all know that "an empty mind is a devil's workshop" but Tihar Jail Authorities have taken this too seriously. They have come up with so many initiatives and projects to keep the inmates engaged in one chore or the other that they feel as busy and occupied as the Wall Street professionals.
To start, they have this system of providing smart cards to the prisoners in which their wages gets credited and they can use this smart card to buy various items and to avail the services being provided to them. Then the jail authorities through their efforts have set up various small scale commodity manufacturing units that impart skills to the various unskilled criminals and of course are a good source of earning wages. All the products manufactured here are then sold through various wholesalers and in there various TJ (Tihar jail) outlets in the pipelines. Moreover, these products are also sold in various fairs and trade melas all over the country. Go Brand TJ!
The jail authorities have also initiated some innovative moves. They have carved out a separate space for a music room in every building and encouraged the inmates to form their own bands and one of them called 'Flying Souls' has really been making waves, soothing waves. The healing powers of Music at play.They have also experimented with increasing the unlocking hours of the inmates which has shown promising results and a positive change in the attitudes of the workers. They have modified the nomenclature inside the bars wherein the tag 'sewadar' is no more used. Small steps, gigantic moves.
On the educational front as well, Tihar has made great strides. They have collaborated with the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) and the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) whereby they have agreed to open study centres in Tihar. Great number of inmates are completing their abandoned education dreams and are moving forward to achieve higher education. Tihar also has started a "Padho and Padho" initiative to further provide the necessary funding for the education of the inmates. This is the first ICT (Information and Communication Technology) enabled literacy drive ever launched in an Indian jail.
The jail authorities deserve a huge round of applause for the assertive actions taken in this regard. And what is even more promising is the ever-increasing spirit of welfare and reforming which is evident in their work ethics. They arrange a regular meeting of all the officers where they discuss and share new ideas by which they can take the Tihar phenomenon to another level. They also appreciate and encourage feedback from the inmates themselves. In the pipelines we have the idea of a semi-open jail where a section of the criminals would be able to go out in the designated area and would be able to pursue their desired profession. But this facility would only be provided to those who have an extremely good record and those who have completed a major part of their sentences. This is a great initiative in the sense that before getting released they would be gradually reinstated in the society and would be setting a great example for the rest of the criminals who would be looking forward to the same route.
In light of the rising crimes in the country especially against women, we need to take the jail reforms very seriously. The need to replicate this Tihar Model is more than ever. But first and foremost we need to increase the number of jails so that those atoning their actions are not suffocated to the brink of irreversible criminality. And also, we need to change the way we look at them. To err is human. They are human, one of us. They deserve a chance to amend their wrong. We as a society are failing with our inability to provide the same. We owe it to them. We must resurrect the fallen!
Our judicial system is reformative and not punitive, at least on paper. Our jails which are ridiculously overpopulated by prisoners, which are even more unhygienic than the defecated open fields of our country, where prisoners are treated like unproductive cattle on whose fodder the hard earned tax money of Indian citizens is being wasted in vain, these very jails, are suppose to reform them. But it is high time to take a reality check. The inhumane, aggressive and offensive treatment given to these incumbents will only magnify the evil in them. Violence only breeds violence. Yes, they made a mistake. But that should not mean that they be treated with prejudices and biases for eternity. That will only mean they come out more hollow and emotionless ready to bring down the Policing system of the country.
A large section of Indian population wants India to let go the cruel capital punishment. It is not in sync with the principles and values of our society. Yes Yes, and putting them in a small dingy cell with ten other criminals where they cannot even keep a count of getting sodomized is so in sync with our ideals. We must understand that in order to completely get rid of capital punishment, we must have the capacity to reform those who have fallen. If we cannot provide that, the repercussions would be catastrophic. And that way we would only be breeding criminals in the jails. Today we are a prismatic society where our institutions are developing and conflicts are bound to happen. The inequalities are glaring and some proletariat sections might rebel breaking the law and order and living the Marxian dream and the bourgeoisie nightmare. In the absence of a proper reformatory system, we just cannot afford to keep the dangerous criminals with the other lot.
Recently I came across a ray of hope in this direction when i got my hands on the Annual Review of the Delhi Prisons which proudly highlights the various projects taken up in Tihar Jail which makes it one of the most unique jails in the whole world. We all know that "an empty mind is a devil's workshop" but Tihar Jail Authorities have taken this too seriously. They have come up with so many initiatives and projects to keep the inmates engaged in one chore or the other that they feel as busy and occupied as the Wall Street professionals.
To start, they have this system of providing smart cards to the prisoners in which their wages gets credited and they can use this smart card to buy various items and to avail the services being provided to them. Then the jail authorities through their efforts have set up various small scale commodity manufacturing units that impart skills to the various unskilled criminals and of course are a good source of earning wages. All the products manufactured here are then sold through various wholesalers and in there various TJ (Tihar jail) outlets in the pipelines. Moreover, these products are also sold in various fairs and trade melas all over the country. Go Brand TJ!
The jail authorities have also initiated some innovative moves. They have carved out a separate space for a music room in every building and encouraged the inmates to form their own bands and one of them called 'Flying Souls' has really been making waves, soothing waves. The healing powers of Music at play.They have also experimented with increasing the unlocking hours of the inmates which has shown promising results and a positive change in the attitudes of the workers. They have modified the nomenclature inside the bars wherein the tag 'sewadar' is no more used. Small steps, gigantic moves.
On the educational front as well, Tihar has made great strides. They have collaborated with the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) and the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) whereby they have agreed to open study centres in Tihar. Great number of inmates are completing their abandoned education dreams and are moving forward to achieve higher education. Tihar also has started a "Padho and Padho" initiative to further provide the necessary funding for the education of the inmates. This is the first ICT (Information and Communication Technology) enabled literacy drive ever launched in an Indian jail.
The jail authorities deserve a huge round of applause for the assertive actions taken in this regard. And what is even more promising is the ever-increasing spirit of welfare and reforming which is evident in their work ethics. They arrange a regular meeting of all the officers where they discuss and share new ideas by which they can take the Tihar phenomenon to another level. They also appreciate and encourage feedback from the inmates themselves. In the pipelines we have the idea of a semi-open jail where a section of the criminals would be able to go out in the designated area and would be able to pursue their desired profession. But this facility would only be provided to those who have an extremely good record and those who have completed a major part of their sentences. This is a great initiative in the sense that before getting released they would be gradually reinstated in the society and would be setting a great example for the rest of the criminals who would be looking forward to the same route.
In light of the rising crimes in the country especially against women, we need to take the jail reforms very seriously. The need to replicate this Tihar Model is more than ever. But first and foremost we need to increase the number of jails so that those atoning their actions are not suffocated to the brink of irreversible criminality. And also, we need to change the way we look at them. To err is human. They are human, one of us. They deserve a chance to amend their wrong. We as a society are failing with our inability to provide the same. We owe it to them. We must resurrect the fallen!
No comments:
Post a Comment