‘100 prisoners in waiting list for open jails in state’

THE FACT CAME TO LIGHT DURING THE HEARING OF A PETITION IN THE RAJASTHAN HIGH COURT ON FRIDAY

JODHPUR: Rajasthan is the only state in the country where, despite having the largest number of open jails, more than a 100 prisoners eligible to stay in them are on the waiting list.

The worrying aspect is that currently the state has a capacity of 1,392 prisoners living in 36 open prisons, but these jails have a vacancy of more than a 100.

The biggest reason for this is that the meetings of the Advisory Committee, which decide to send the eligible prisoners to the open prison, are not held regularly.

These facts came to light during the hearing of a petition in the Rajasthan High Court on Friday.

The state’s Additional Advocate General Farzand Ali said that at present there are open jails in only 26 districts, out of which six districts have more than one open jail.

He said 230 prisoners were sent to the open prison in April, but still more than 100 prisoners are on the waiting list. It was also revealed during the hearing that there are more than 300 vacancies in open jails.

Social activist Smita Chakraburtty, associated with the Rajasthan State Legal Services Authority, also submitted a report prepared on the basis of a detailed survey on the state’s open prisons in the court, in which she said that the state’s open jails are role models for other states and abroad, but still most of the prisoners are not getting the benefit of this.

There is a need to increase capacity and facilities in these jails.

The report said that 91 percent of prisoners released after being in open prison have gone to their homes, only 9 percent of prisoners did not go home due to guilt.

Giving the example of Jaipur Central Jail in the report, it was told that the government spends Rs 18.72 crore annually on the pri s oners, s t af f and ot her resources of the closed jailed prisoners, while the annual cost of the Sanganer Open Jail is only 24 lakh rupees. In a closed jail where the state government spends an average of Rs 7,094 per prisoner per month, the same costs Rs 500 in an open prison.

According to the report, 2,129 staff are employed as against 4,426 sanctioned staff. In such a situation, every six prisoners need to be monitored by one staff, whereas in open prison, 80 prisoners need only one staff.

The Division Bench of Justice Sangeet Lodha and Justice Vinit Kumar Mathur directed the State Government to take necessary steps in this regard, taking seriously the facts depicted in this report.