Central prisons in Maha get community radio stations

Central prisons in Maharashtra today got community radio stations which will cater exclusively to the inmates.
"The radio (stations) will help serve the jail inmates with various information including counselling, entertainment through radio jockey who will be selected from the prisoners," Bhushan Upadhyay, Additional Director General of Police and Inspector General of Prisons, Maharashtra, said.
Unveiling the radio station at the Central Prison here, he said similar facilities were simultaneously launched at the Central Prisons in Kolhapur and other locations.
The Central Prison at Yerawda in Pune already has such facility.
(REOPENS DEL53)
The conference also resolved that "All prisons should be linked with courts through video conferencing for expeditious trial and to save costs in escorting undertrial prisoners to courts."

Among other resolutions passed included that "Prison e-system should be integrated under CCTNS (Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & Systems) as well as e-courts on a priority basis."

"All states should have probation services/officers in prisons. Every state should establish a welfare wing under Prison Department comprising welfare officers, law officers, counsellors and probation officers," the resolution said.
Asserting that circulation of drugs, gang wars and other such menace brought a bad name to prison administration, Ahir yesterday had also called for clean administration and said the conduct of the authorities should improve to reform the inmates.
The Union minister had asked prison administrations to adopt the Prime Minister's Skill Development programme to accelerate reforms.

Inmates can be imparted training in vocations like farming, sericulture, beekeeping, fisheries and animal husbandry so that they can be rehabilitated and reintegrated with the society, he said.
A senior official of the BPR&D said the revised version of the Model Prisons Manual has been circulated by the Centre to the states.
"Though prison is a state subject, we need some sort of uniformity, and that's is why the idea of a National Prisons Mission. Also, we believe the prisons in various states would slowly adopt the model prison manual," he said.
"The states should revise their existing prison manuals by adopting the provisions of Model Prison Manual, 2016 prepared by the Ministry of Home Affairs," the resolution said.

It further said the Centre "may consider establishing additional regional institutes of correctional administration for each region and one National Correctional Administration Academy."
"The existing vacancies in all ranks of Prison Departments should be filled up expeditiously.
"Combined training of prison, police, health department and judiciary on undertrial management and separate training course on deradicalisation of prisoners should be conducted," it added.
Director General of BPR&D M C Borwankar outlined the talks given by various prison chiefs earlier in the conference, especially the use of technology to make surveillance in jails better and also to improve literacy level of inmates.

The senior official said, "the last four conferences of the heads of prisons were held in 2004, 2008, 2010 and 2013."
At the end of the conference today, the delegates also visited Tihar Jail.