A tale of Two Jails

 

[ - you can also say > Stone walls do not a prison make – nor iron bars a cage  ]

 

Context :

Shimmer of 25k natural diamonds a month lights up lives at Gujarat prison   …. 23 Aug 2023

Extract :

In the dim environs of a Gujarat jail, 25,000-odd tiny pieces of rough-cut gemstones get their sparkle every month in the hands of prisoners polishing them into shape and shining a new light on their lives as diamonds in the rough.

Lajpore Central Jail in diamond city Surat, which is known to polish 95% of the world's showroom stock of the most coveted precious stone, currently has a team of 107 prisoners skilfully chipping away at small-size diamonds in the prison's polishing unit daily.

Their combined output of finished natural diamonds earns each of them up to Rs 20,000 a month, depending on the skills they bring to the polishing table.

"Ours is possibly the only jail in the world where cutting and polishing of natural diamonds takes place.

The unit has been working smoothly without any complaints," said SP JN Desai, who heads the prison.

The majority of the 3,000 prisoners lodged in Lajpore jail are engaged in some kind of employment requiring skills, including making furniture and sculpting.

Vipul Mer, a 33-year-old serving a life term, works as a manager in the diamond polishing unit. "I was a diamond artisan before landing in jail a decade ago. Despite being in jail, I'm able to support my family."

Of one's total earnings, a prisoner is allowed to retain Rs 2,100 a month as personal expenses in jail. The remaining amount is sent to their families.

"I learnt diamond polishing after being brought to jail 11 months ago," said Satyam Pal (23), who earns around Rs 8,000 a month.

 

Odisha Government Plans House Arrest GPS Tracking Of Undertrials In Non-Heinous Crimes  ..  29 Aug 2023

 

Extract :

Odisha government is going to house arrest the under trial prisoners from now on. Odisha is making efforts to introduce a new system for such people. Odisha will become the first state to use GPS tracking devices for under-trial prisoners who do not have serious criminal charges.

Efforts are being made to introduce this new system to reduce overcrowding in the jail. These GPS tracking devices cost Rs. 10,000 up to Rs. 15,000.

Once it is applied to the ankle one can easily sense the movements of the person. Police sources said that it has been designed in such a way that it cannot be tampered with.

It is programmed based on a specified area, perimeter. It sends an alert to the police if the wearer crosses the boundaries of the area. Also there is a possibility to cancel the bail. The technology can also be used to control the movement of dangerous criminals in prisons.

Prisons DG Manoj Kumar Chhabra said that the state government has proposed to introduce a technology that can incarcerate inmates who commit minor crimes in their homes instead of sending them to jails. As part of this, recently, the Directorate presented an ankle tracking system for under-trials before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs. These prison reforms have been prominently mentioned by the Odisha government.

Chhabra said that overcrowding in prisons has led to the creation of such devices to address it. The Supreme Court had earlier directed states not to arrest those convicted of offenses punishable by a maximum of seven years in prison. About 65% of Odisha’s jails are incarcerated for offenses punishable up to seven years. At the time of grant of bail, under-trial prisoners have two options.

There will be an option to choose whether to seek jail term or bail. If they ask for bail, tracking device can be made mandatory for them. Chhabra said that the government does not need to buy the device and the bailee can be asked to buy the device.

 

 

Current Scenario of Prisons in India

 

State	No of Prisons	No of Prisoners	No of Under-trials
Uttar Pradesh	754	246,869	90,606
Bihar	393	71,822	59,577
Maharashtra	538	39,542	31,752
Andhra Pradesh	281	37,344	32,992
Chhatisgharh	212	20,586	17,822
Gujarat	179	39,542	36,442
Haryana	200	21,086	18,786
J & K	130	18,972	17,472
Himachal Pradesh	38	1,827	1,727
Arunachal Pradesh	14	1,354	1,272
Goa	13	378	372
TOTAL	2,842	480,972	307, 620

 

My  Take :

 

On the matter of Surat Jail inmates acquiring SKILLS and earning Rs 20,000 per month :

 

#  Surat example should be replicated in ALL of our jails

#  1699 jails should be thought of, in terms of ITI {Industrial Training Institutes }

 

On the matter of ANKLE TRACKING DEVICE :

 

#   Reducing overcrowding of jails by letting out UNDER-TRIALS, is a laudable

     objective

#   Court cases go on for 5-10-15 years. Keeping under-trials in jail costs huge

     amount of money.

#   A long stay in jail in company of hardened criminals is bad for the future

     behaviour of under-trials

#   By returning to their homes, these under-trials can get support of family /

     friends and improve

#   At home, they can undertake a number of WFH-type of jobs – with help of

     WiFI / Internet

 

AND,

    Authorities must find a way to do away with this demeaning Ankle Tracking Device and implement a technology to track these persons, using their mobile phones

There is every possibility that concerned under-trial on bail, may just leave his mobile phone at home and roam around, all over the city .

I suppose , a way around , could be to ask him to dial a police phone number and record his " presence at home “ in his own VOICE , every hour. Voice-based biometric identification was introduced by some countries during COVID outbreak .

Reference :

Ø  TRACK THE BLACK  ………………….. 21 Jan 2016

 

Extract :

Last week , there was a news report that all foreigners entering India , will be given special SIM cards that they must install in their smart phones - enabling Indian Authorities to track their movements and to quickly locate a foreigner who overstays his stay

 

GPS satellites of USA / Russia / China enable their militaries to locate objects on earth , just ONE CENTIMETER apart  !

 

With regards,

Hemen Parekh

www.hemenparekh.ai  /  30  Aug  2023