KCR tells home wing to set free ‘good’ prisoners
Officials told to give list of eligible prisoners for I-Day release
Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao on Wednesday asked the Home department to release prisoners with good conduct during the ensuing Independence Day celebrations.
The Chief Minister held a meeting with Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar, Principal Secretary (Home) Rajiv Trivedi, and DGP M. Mahender Reddy at Pragathi Bhavan in this regard. He took stock of the guidelines pertaining to release of ‘rehabilitated’ prisoners.
He asked the authorities to prepare a list of eligible prisoners to be released on Independence Day so that the state government could issue appropriate orders.
The direction of the Chief Minister to the home department for the release of prisoners, who have conducted themselves well during their prison term, has given a ray of hope to the prisoners, who have been waiting for the release for the last two years.
On July 18, 2018, the Central government has directed state governments to release prisoners with good conduct in the prison on the occasion of the 150th birth anniversary celebrations of Mahatma Gandhi by granting a special remission.
Though several state governments followed the direction of the Central government and released over
2,000 prisoners, the Telangana government had confined itself to granting the special remission to a few select prisoners last year.
This year, however, the Chief Minister is keen on releasing prisoners, who are in the prisons across the state despite their eligibility for the remission.
Those eligible for remission, according to the Centre’s guidelines, include those over 55-year-old women and transgenders, over 60-year old-men, and physically challenged convicts, who have completed
50 per cent of the actual sentence period. Terminally ill convicts and convicted prisoners who have completed two-third of their actual sentence period are also eligible for the remission.
However, those jailed for henious crimes are not eligible for the release.