Bengal minister aims for jails with 'human face'

On a mission to give correctional homes a "human face" in West Bengal, Jail Minister Shankar Chakravorti aims to improve basic living conditions of prisoners in all the 55 jails in the state.

"My motto is to have jails with a human face. I cannot provide television sets to every prisoner, but I can ensure at least one. I am trying to improve the food and basic living conditions of prisoners," Chakravorti told PTI.

"I eat with prisoners so that I can find out the quality of food being given to them. Whenever I make surprise visit to jails most allegations concern the quality of food and medicine," Chakravorti said.

 

"Regarding medicine I send them to the laboratory for tests," he said, adding he had made surprise visits to three correctional homes -- Presidency, Krishnanagar and Balurghat so far. "I have sent the medicine specimens to the laboratory and the reports are yet to come, but if anything amiss is found strict action will follow," Chakravorti said.

Stating that the picture he had found so far was not very encouraging as hardly anything was done for jails by the erstwhile Left Front government in the last 34 years, Chakravorti said, "I have just got to know the tip of the iceberg and I will have to get to the bottom. "I will visit all the 55 correctional homes in the state to ascertain facts without which there cannot be constructive planning," he said.