Hyderabad: About two per cent of prisoners are found to be habitual criminals and they require correctional services. Prisons department officials say that most of these criminals are robbers and thieves dacoits, burglars, and chain snatchers.
Although the prisons department claims that reforms like jobs for released prisoners with good conduct and the ‘Vidya Danam’ scheme to provide education and loans for prisoners to establish businesses, are yielding results and the number of prisoners is coming down since 2014, there is no change in the behaviour of habitual criminals.
Telangana prisons department sources said that habitual criminals organise gangs in prisons, attack other inmates and staff and smuggle in banned things like mobile phones, tobacco products and narcotics.
“The remaining 98 per cent prisoners are either first time offenders or have committed crimes impulsively. Even if we open the gates and ask them to escape no one will go as they respect the law. But the two per cent are hardcore criminals who disturb the atmosphere in prisons,” the source explained.
Director-general of prisons Vinoy Kumar Singh said the department was trying to curb the criminal inclinations of first-time offenders through counselling. “Before 2014, the strength of prisoners in TS jails was about 8,000 against a capacity of 7,000. After our initiatives, the number of prisoners came down to 6,000 and we are expecting it to go down. We are planning to focus on reforms for habitual criminals,” he said.
Inspector general of prisons Akula Narasimha said that both the police and prisons departments were taking steps to control habitual criminals.
“While the police department is detaining them under the Preventive Detention Act, we are teaching them skills through our industries. We have also found that they are committing crimes after release due to financial problems and police harassment. As our DG has sent letters to the police they are not disturbing released prisoners until they have evidence,” he said.
