Open jail inmates will also get this facility

Women prisoners can now make video calls home

Women prisoners and inmates of open jails across Maharashtra can now make video calls to their families and relatives, said a senior official of the prison department of the state government.

This could be the first-ofits-kind initiative for prisoners in the country, claimed the official.

Under the initiative, the prison department has started a smart video calling facility for inmates lodged in women's jails and open prisons, the official said.

A prisoner can talk to his/her family members for five minutes and is charged Rs 5 for availing the service, he said.

“It was initiated on a pilot basis at the Central Prison at Yerawada in Pune and now it has been started in women's jails and open prisons across the state,” he said. Through the video calling facility, prisoners can speak to their relatives or family members for five minutes on a given day on mobile phone numbers registered with the department, he said.

Smartphones being used for the video facility, which brings inmates and their family members face to face, have been purchased by dipping into the Prisoners Welfare Fund, the official said.

The whole conversation is monitored by a police constable to ensure the video chat centres only around family issues and well-being of each other, he said.