Telangana prisons lesson for Gujarat

Hyderabad: The state prisons department is likely to collaborate with the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) to bring about reforms in prisons across the country, many of which are in pathetic conditions. As part of the collaboration, the staff from TS prisons will visit prisons departments in other states, take classes for the staff there and train them to improve their day-to-day functioning.  

The move comes after the prisons department of Gujarat wrote to the Telangana state prisons officials asking them to send a team which can explain the measures which have improved the functioning of TS prisons.

Director-General of TS prisons V.K. Singh held a meeting with the BPR&D Director-General V.S.K. Kaumudi in New Delhi recently during which the former gave a detailed presentation about the measures taken up by the Telangana prisons department which has yielded good results.

“We have offered to collaborate with the BPR&D for prison reforms and the proposal is under consideration. We have explained in detail all the work done by the prisons department. In the next few days, we will be sending our team to Gujarat prisons department,” Mr Singh told Deccan Chronicle.

In their presentation to BPR&D officials, the TS prisons officials stated that not only does the Telangana police have an in-house FM radio for all the jails, which helps inmates overcome depression and provides entertainment, it has entered into an agreement with Indian Oil Corporation and BPCL to open 20 petrol bunks in the next three months to rehabilitate over a 1,000 prisoners released from jails. Some of the petrol bunks are already functional.

The officials explained the concept of ‘My Nation’ outlets where 52 products prepared by the inmates is sold. Besides, the jail staff has prepared a list of nearly 1,000 habitual offenders and with the help of local police, is trying to keep track of them. “We have developed a nursery in jails where 5 lakh saplings have been planted per jail,” Mr Singh told BPR&D officials.

“Once the BPR&D gives the nod, we will have our teams visit various states and they in turn will visit us. Prison reforms is the need of the hour and is a challenging task. TS prisons is No 1 in the country when it comes to reforms,” Mr Singh added. Several jails across the country, particularly, UP, Bihar, Delhi’s Tihar, Punjab among others are not only overcrowded but also have poor medical facilities for the inmates which has led to several deaths over the years. The conditions are highly unhygienic while not much attention is paid to bringing in reforms.

Even in the recent meeting on national security strategies, TS prisons officials gave a presentation on the reforms taken up by them which came in for much appreciation from officials of other states.