Soon, inmates may be able to video chat with families

Idea is to establish governmentowned internet centres. The family of an inmate can apply for a video conferencing session and go to the internet centre at the allotted time...

P VIJAYKUMAR, SP, Research and Correctional Administration Division

NEW DELHI: At a recently held meeting of an advisory committee on prison reforms, officials discussed the possibility of introducing video conferencing services for inmates, government sources familiar with the matter said.

Officials said the advisory committee for the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD) on Correctional Administration decided to push for the use of modern technology in prisons.

“Maharashtra government has already started the video conferencing facility and the home ministry as well as the BPRD will be looking at the possibility of other states replicating that,” said a senior government official familiar with the minutes of the meeting.

P Vijaykumar, a superintendent of police in Research and Correctional Administration Division, said video conferencing could only be introduced in jails after proper research on its pros and cons.

“The idea is to establish government-owned internet centres in states. The kin of an inmate can apply for a video conference session and go to the internet centre at the allotted time. This facility could be especially useful for those people whose family members are lodged in jails outside their home state,” he said.

A senior government official said that if the idea is successfully implemented then they could also consider introducing a facility for an inmates’ kin to video chat with him/her from their residences. “Of course, the video sessions in both cases will be monitored by authorities in charge,” the official said.

The committee, comprising key prison officials from Maharashtra, Telangana, Haryana, Gujarat and Karnataka, faculty members from criminology institutes and judicial heads, also held discussions on alternative sentencing and mandatory community service for delinquents. NEW DELHI: For years we have been hearing the term: citizens’ participation in green matters. As we stand here in 2018, what does this even mean?

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