Shri A.C. Moideeen, Hon’ble Minister for Industries, Sports and Youth Affairs
Smt. R. Sreelekha, IPS, Director General of Prisons
Dr. Alexander Jacob, IPS [Retd],
Shri Gopakumar, IG of Prisons and Correctional Services
Shri B Pradeep, DIG of Prisons
Dear Officers
Sahodaree Sahodaranmaare,
Madhyama Suhruthukkale,
Ellaavarkkum Ente Namaskaaram,
I am happy to address you as Chief Guest at the Valedictory Session of the State Level Seminar on the Future of Correctional Administration in Kerala.
At the outset, let me congratulate the Prisons Department for conducting this seminar, which throws light on a matter that deserves urgent attention of our society.
I would like to begin by quoting George Bernard Shaw, famous dramatist who once wrote:
'The first prison I ever saw, had inscribed on it, “Cease to do evil: Learn to do well”; but as the inscription was on the outside, the prisoners could not read it'.
This may have been said lightly, but it speaks volumes about our society's age old attitude to the very idea of Prisons and measures. Society saw crimes as evil and tended to believe in punitive actions that would resemble a retaliation of equal gravity. The idea was not to correct or to reform, but to punish in the most savage manner. That also explains why the conditions in our prisons had remained grim, cruel and frightening for centuries. The very expression, “condemned to a cell” sums up the societal attitude to those imprisoned for crimes. And once condemned always meant, condemned for ever, with almost no human rights.
After the formation of the Kerala State on 1st November 1956, the management and administration of the jails in the State were based on the Kerala Prisons Rules 1958. In 2010, the State enacted a new law named Kerala Prisons and Correctional Services Management Act 2010 for governing the custody, correction, reformation, welfare and rehabilitation of prisoners and for management of prisons and correctional services in the State. Kerala Prisons and Correctional Services Rules were also framed under the above law and it came into existence in 2014.
As per the provisions of Kerala Prisons and Correctional Services Management Act 2010 and the Rules of 2014 in force, more emphasis has been given to the correction, reformation and rehabilitation of prisoners. The intention of holding State Level Seminar every year by the Department is to enlighten the prison staff about the contemporary developments and to update information related to the field of correctional administration.
The Government had, in the eighties, set up working groups, committees and commissions to look into the conditions of prisons and to provide remedies. The Justice Mulla Committee Report on Prison Reforms in 1982-83 and the Justice Krishna Iyer Committee on Women Prisoners in 1986-87 had given a vivid picture of the issues in our prisons, and suggested many corrective measures. These reports had initiated social discussions, especially because Justice Krishna Iyer was well known as one who believed that “even a convict is entitled to the precious right guaranteed by Article 21'. Hewas alsoknown for mooting the idea of free legal aid to the accused in custody.
The Draft National Policy on Prison Reforms and Correctional Administration, 2007, prepared by the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D), also deserves mention, though some of its recommendations invited severe criticism.
In Kerala, our Prison department has 52 correctional institutions including three central jails and ten district jails. After care homes, rescue homes, Rescue shelters and similar institutions have also been brought under Jail department, enabling it to implement the social welfare programmes also. And, as per the provisions of the Kerala Prisons and Correctional Services Management Act of 2010 and the Rules of 2014, we have been able to give more emphasis on correction, reformation and rehabilitation of prisoners.
The measures adapted for ensuring meaningful occupation to the inmates of prisons gained acceptance in society, as was evident from the positive response to the sale of food items prepared in Central Jail. The introduction of skills like basic computing, plumbing, mechanical work, garment making, sanitation aluminum fabrication etc., has also changed the general atmosphere in prisons. I understand that universities have also come forward to give study opportunities to inmates.
However, one cannot avoid a word of caution about the correctional measures. Our society, which has accepted the recent changes in our approach to prisoners, also should not get the idea that prison life is a happy ride. While we should keep our commitment to ensure correction of behavior through positive methods, we cannot let our society feel that the difference between simple and rigorous imprisonment has been eliminated, since such acts would go against the principle of deterrence, which is regarded as one of the foundations of criminal jurisprudence.
The modern theory of Reformation and Rehabilitation emphasizes the need for training not only in custodial and security aspects, but also in the scientific methods of treatment of offenders.
Prison Discipline and Control:Prison discipline is concerned with the reasonable regulation of everyday institutional life so that the institution will be an orderly, self-respecting community. The aim of discipline, so far as the individual inmate is concerned, is "self reliance, self control, self respect, self discipline, not merely the ability to conform to the institutional rules and regulations, but also the ability and desire to conform to accepted standards for individual and community life in a free society.
Efficient prison personnel:The functioning of a prison as a correctional house to a large extent depends on the efficiency of the personnel who manage its affairs. When unqualified personnel are appointed, the prison cannot attain its reformation objective, as it is becoming increasingly apparent that the success of treatment programmes depends to a large extent upon the attitudes of the subordinate staff toward prisoner participation in such programmes. The Guards by their close contact with the inmates have more opportunities to change their attitudes, than any other class of prison workers. So, recruitment of well qualified and well trained staff is very crucial for proper prison administration.
Prison Education:Education in prison is a factor, which contributes to reformation of prisoners. Education of prisoners is understood in two ways. On one hand it was once taken to mean little more than academic school programme which were offered to inmates. On the other hand, all intentional efforts to direct inmates away from crime by means of non- academic, as well as academic measures are now usually considered as prison education. The prison education should aim at giving to every prisoner whatever he requires of the following:
Fundamental Academic Education, designed to provide the intellectual tools, needed in study and training and in his everyday life.
· Vocational Education, designed to give training for an occupation,
· Health Education designed to teach the fundamentals of personal and community health,
· Cultural Education, embracing the non-utilitarian fields which one enters for intellectual or aesthetic satisfaction alone;
· Social Education, to which all other types of education and all the activities of the institution should contribute.
An educational programme could be made more effective by establishing well equipped library. Lessons, discussions and other activities are confined to the appointed house and the assigned place, but a book from a library would be constant companion to prisoners. A good library is an adjunct to a sound educational policy. In addition to affording recreational reading activities, a well-organised prison library can contribute to all phases of the educational programme. It may also serve to connect the inmate with outside law-abiding society.
I hope this seminar was successful in updating the knowledge of our prison staff with the contemporary developments in correctional administration. I compliment the Prisons department particularly Director General of Prisons, for organizing this Seminar and hope that regular interactions on these lines would ensure a better correctional administration in our State.
Ellaavarkkum Ente Aashamsakal
Nanni
Jai Hind
