Manjula Shetye case: Panel submits report to women’s commission over jail conditions PRISON OVERHAUL Committee has batted for CCTV cameras in jails, routine medical check-up of inmates
If the Maharashtra government makes ‘earnest’ attempts to implement the suggestions of the threemember committee then all the prisons across the State would be under the surveillance of CCTV cameras. This is a significant recommendation put forth by the three-member committee that was constituted to study the conditions of the jails in the State and also to submit a report.
It may be recalled that the Committee under Justice (retd.) Anand Nirgude along with former Director General of Police (DGP) Praveen Dixit and Punebased social worker Anjali Deshpande, was constituted post the brutal murder of convict Manjula Shetye. The Committee has now submitted a detailed report to the State Women’s Commission and the same is likely to be tabled before the government soon.
The report that runs in hundreds of pages comprises of numerous suggestions and recommendations especially for the safety of prisoners.
While speaking exclusively with the Free Press Journal, Praveen Dixit informed that the report was submitted to the Commission earlier this week. He also said that the Committee has identified certain aspects which need to be addressed at the earliest.
Dixit said, “There should be CCTV facility in all common areas since the inmates have a lot of differences and fights amongst themselves apart from that with the guards and authorities. So excluding restricted areas like toilets etc all other areas in the prison can be brought under CCTV cameras with sound recording facility.”
“We have even suggested that the modern technology of video links can be provided to the inmates so that they can communicate with judicial officers directly. This will help them to voice their complaints against the prison authorities and also to immediately communicate their grievances, if any. This technology can also be used for the purpose of producing inmates in courts, for their treatment and also for their communciation with their relatives,” Dixit added.
The committee has also suggested that all the inmates must be subjected to routine medical checks at least once a month so that their illnesses, if any, can be ascertained well in advance.
Dixit said, “In Shetye’s case, it was discovered only during the postmortem that she was suffering from tuberculosis, which made her behaviour irritative. Had this been ascertained earlier, then this incident could have been avoided. So, we have suggested that all the inmates must be made to undergo medical checks routinely so that prior action can be taken to rectify their illness.”
The committee has also suggested for the appointment of at least two paramedicals to overcome the problem of inadequate number of medical officers.
The committee has mainly focused on the “overcrowding” issue since several jails in the state are congested. Dixit said, “After studying the issue, we felt that a }number of steps are needed to be taken, especially to tackle the issue of overcrowding in jails. We have come across several prisoners who were not released on bail despite the bail orders by courts. These inmates are the ones who are unable to procure the bonds or sureties and so are left with no option but to languish in jails. There are also inmates who are not given bail by courts.”
“We have suggested that the government consider relaxing the monetary conditions (bonds or sureties) so that prisoners are not kept in jail despite bail orders. We have also suggested to shift foreigners, convicts and under-trials, who are not given bail, to some other jails so that crowd can be reduced,” Dixit added.
The committee has also suggested for the appointment of at least two paramedicals to overcome the problem of inadequate number of medical officers. The committee has mainly focused on the “overcrowding” issue since several jails in the state are congested