Jail reform can't wait

This addition to the existing facilities, welcome as it is, sounds rather insignificant as 71,290 prisoners are now accommodated in the jails which have the space for around 25,000 people. They live in subhuman conditions in those cramped and extremely unhygienic places. They have to sleep and use other facilities by rotation in most of the jails. The convicts, under-trial prisoners, women and children are all huddled together into limited spaces. It seems the basic human rights of prisoners do not figure in our scheme of things. Jails are also supposed to play some kind of reformatory role to enable the inmates to lead normal life once they come out of confinement. But our jails cannot yet think of playing such a role.

It is indeed good news that the government is planning to make it mandatory to count the days spent by an under-trial prisoner before conviction as part of having served the sentence. This will in many cases shorten the jail sentence since under-trial prisoners at times have to spend months or years before being convicted or acquitted. The government is also thinking in terms of releasing a number of prisoners to take the pressure off the jails. This is, however, a more complicated matter that will have to be resolved on the basis of sound legalistic decisions.

Tap here to add The Daily Star as a trusted source

We would like to point out here that a large number of people are arrested on suspicion and put on remand and they add to overcrowding of jails. The jail authorities are reported to be toying with the idea of video conferencing to cut down the number of times an accused has to be produced before court. However, what is more important is to reduce the number of 'jail worthy' people by judicious application of the law. Creation of more space in jails is a welcome move, but at the same time it has to be seen that people are not pushed to jails unless there is sufficient ground for doing so and nobody is left to rot in jails without trial. All these issues must be addressed within the framework of a comprehensive jail reform package.