E-Mulakat Facility A Hit In Maharashtra Prisons: Over 3 Lakh Meetings Conducted In 14 Months, 45,000 At Pune's Yerawada Jail

The e-Mulakat facility under the e-prisons system, part of the Inter-Operable Criminal Justice System (ICJS) of the Union Government, was started in July 2023 in all prisons in Maharashtra for the prisoners to communicate with their families and lawyers.

According to the officials, relatives of prisoners previously had to travel long distances and wait for hours outside the prison to register for meetings, which was a tedious task. Now, relatives of prisoners have benefitted through the e-prisons system. Also, the administration could interview prisoners on any desired day and time.

Citizens of other countries are also lodged as foreign prisoners in various prisons across the state. There are more than 1,105 foreign prisoners in the state's prisons who were not been able to contact their families, parents or children for many days or years. The e-Mulakat facility has bridged this gap, allowing them to communicate with their loved ones overseas, fostering a sense of emotional well-being and rehabilitation.

From January 1, 2024, to February 9, 2025, about 3,16,647 e-Mulakats have been conducted across all prisons in the state.

45,174 e-Mulakats have been conducted in Yerawada Central Prison, 43,848 in Taloja Central Prison, 36,371 in Thane Central Prison, 29,347 in Mumbai Central Prison, 31,444 in Nagpur Central Prison, 22,608 in Kalyan District Prison and 23,860 in Nashik Road Central Prison.

e-Mulakat is being provided to the undertrial prisoners four times a month and to the convicted prisoners twice a month with relatives, friends and lawyers, subject to the rules.

Jalindar Supekar, (Special Inspector General of Police (Headquarters), Prisons and Correctional Services, Maharashtra State, Pune), expressed, "Due to the provision of this facility to the prisoners, it is seen that more and more relatives of the prisoners are inclined to use the e-Mulakat facility. Because of it, we have been saving costs needed for physical meetings."

"To inform the relatives of the prisoners about this facility, flex boards have been installed in front areas of all the prisons and stay places where crowds gather. Also, a demonstration of how to register for a meeting on the national prisons portal is being shown to the relatives/lawyers of the prisoners at the relatives' meeting place through a video clip on the LED screen."