MHA finalises Model Prisons Act 2023 to reform jail management

The new prison act has the provision for punishment for prisoners and jail staff for using prohibited items like mobile phones in jails, writes ETV Bharat's Gautam Debroy.

New Delhi: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Friday finalised a comprehensive Model Prisons Act, 2023, which may serve as a guiding document for the states, and for adoption in their jurisdiction. Model Prisons Act, 2023 aims at reforming prison management and ensuring the transformation of inmates into law-abiding citizens and their rehabilitation in society.

An official from the Home Ministry said that the new prisons act will lay more emphasis on the safety of women and transgender prisoners and bring about transparency in prison management and provide for the correction and rehabilitation of prisoners. Along with The Prisons Act of 1894, The Prisoners Act of 1900 and The Transfer of Prisoners Act of 1950 have also been reviewed by the MHA and relevant provisions of these Acts have been assimilated into the Model Prisons Act 2023.

The draft of the comprehensive Model Prisons Act of 2023 was prepared by the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD) reviewed and revised the colonial-era outdated Prison Act, in tune with contemporary modern-day needs and correctional ideology. The new prison act has the provision for security assessment and segregation of prisoners, individual sentence planning, grievance redressal, prison development board, and attitudinal change towards prisoners.

It also has a provision of separate accommodation for women prisoners and transgender as well as a provision for the use of technology in prison administration with a view to bringing transparency in prison administration. The new prison act has the provision for video conferencing with courts, scientific and technological interventions in prisons, along with a provision of punishment for prisoners and jail staff, for use of prohibited items like mobile phones in jails.

“Provision regarding establishment and management of high-security jail and open jail (open and semi-open). Provision for protecting society from the criminal activities of hardened criminals and habitual offenders, as well as provision for legal aid to prisoners, provision of parole, furlough and premature release to incentivise good conduct, have also been incorporated in the new prison act,” an official said.

In this new prison act, the focus has been given to vocational training and skill development of prisoners and their reintegration into society. “In the last few decades, an altogether new perspective has evolved about prisons and prison inmates, globally. Prisons today are not looked at as places of retributive deterrence, but are considered as reformative and correctional institutions where the prisoners are transformed and rehabilitated back into society as law-abiding citizens,” the official said.

As per the provisions of the Constitution of India, ‘prisons’ or ‘persons detained therein’ is a 'State' subject. The responsibility of prison management and prisoners administration vests with State governments, who alone are competent to make appropriate legislative provisions in this regard. “However, given the critical role that efficient prison management plays in the criminal justice system, the Government of India attaches a high degree of importance to supporting the States/UTs in this regard,” the official said. The MHA aims at bringing more transparency and improvement in prison management and prison administration across the country through the new prison act.