In a bid to decongest the jails in the state, the prisons department will be enabling 574 prisoners languishing in the state prisons in securing bail through the Support for Poor Prisoner Scheme, an initiative of the Central government, said the prisons department officials. The government would be allocating Rs1.60 crore funds for the same. Also, construction of new prisons in Palghar, Ahmednagar and Hingoli districts would also help in decongesting jails, officials said.
Impact of financial support on prisoners' rehabilitation
Earlier this month, FPJ had reported that the Maharashtra government has set up a five member Empowered Committee at district level for implementation of the Central government scheme of providing bail to socially disadvantaged or less educated or poor people from low income groups. The Centre has planned to provide bail to the convicts who are unable to pay the fine and who cannot get bail due to financial constraints.
“It has been observed that providing financial support to prisoners to pay their fines or help them get bail will help them get out of jail and join the mainstream as responsible citizens of the country. For the successful implementation of the said scheme, guidelines and standard operating procedures have been determined,” said a prison official.
Speaking about the recent initiatives taken by the prisons department, an official said, “Work of setting up CCTV cameras in 14 jails in the state is going on. Once this work is complete, we would get CCTV systems set up in other remaining jails of the state as well. We are also working on getting a cashless canteen facility for inmates in the Maharashtra prisons on the lines of Tihar and Haryana jails. Also in order to decongest prisoners from the existing jails, new prisons are being constructed at Palghar, Ahmednagar and Hingoli districts.”
