Hyderabad, November 10: Prisoners in the state may just be rewarded for good conduct as the officials of the prisons department mull over the idea of letting the inmates’ family members stay with them for a few days inside the jail.
“We have decided to construct cottages for prisoners and the family members of the prisoners can reside in the cottage along with the prison inmate every month,” director-general (prisons) CN Gopinath Reedy told Express. They will be allowed to stay for three days every month in order to aid the social reformation of the prisoners. “The facility will be extended only to prisoners who have been maintaining a good conduct,” the DG added.
The system will be implemented only in ‘open jails’. Cottages will be constructed first in Cherlapally jail before the scheme being extended to other open jails in the state.
The prison officials are looking into the nitty gritty of implementation of the system and are studying a similar model in Sanganer jail in Rajasthan.
The facility was initiated there with an aim to reform prisoners in the jail as the officials expect that proximity to family members would bring about a positive change in the prisoner’s attitude. However officials added that this opportunity would not be extended to undertrials.
In Sanganer jail too, the facility was extended only to convicted prisoners who have completed a third of their sentence. The Rajasthan government made it mandatory for the prisoner’s family to reside with him in the cottage. A prisoner can also arrange for a television set and go out to work on the condition that he would return before dusk.
Though committees appointed by both central and state governments recommended the Sanganer jail model to be replicated in all states, it is not certain whether AP prison officials will allow television sets.
Gopinath Reddy also asserted that no prisoner would be allowed to go out for any purpose, including for work and only the family members can join him inside the cottage.
–Agencies