INDIA’S PRISON REFORMS AND THEIR IMPORTANCE

Ms. Chikita Malhotra
Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law
Kalinga University
Email id- chikita.malhotra@kalingauniversity.ac.in
In the past, the idea of punishment was restricted to preventing and reducing criminal activity. Similarly, prisons were thought of as little more than somewhere to imprison offenders while they were being held. The police at the jails subjected the inmates to abuse and torture. However, the idea of punishment changed as civilization developed. The goal of punishment nowadays is to reform the offender, which is how the idea of open prisons came to be. Open jails often have low levels of security and rely on the convicts’ self-control. Open prisons, often known as minimum-security prisons or prisons without bars, are known for their far less restrictive rules. The idea of open prisons has ushered in a new era in the jail system’s history. In open prisons, offenders have the chance to implement constructive behavioral patterns and mindset adjustments. Better facilities, greater social freedom, and employment are provided to prisoners rather than letting them sit about in their cells. There are criminologists who would rather refer to it as “open-prisons” or “open-jails.”
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
The two main reformers who thought that such facilities and institutions might be created to rehabilitate convicts and so prevent crime were John Howard and Jeremy Bentham. The first attempt to build open prisons was attempted toward the close of the 1800s, specifically in 1891 with the establishment of Witzwill in Switzerland.
The United States, the United Kingdom, and other nations made similar attempts in this area. The first open prisons in the modern sense were created in the United Kingdom in 1936 and were known as New Hall Camp.
Around the 1940s, the concept of an open jail began to take shape in the United States. The growth of open prisons in the United Kingdom was greatly aided by Sir Alexander Paterson, who served on the prison commission from 1922 until 1947. It was later discovered that even in the absence of armed guards, these inmates did not flee while working. In the US, this practice spread gradually.
By 1975, there were 13 open prisons in England, 25 in the US, four in Australia and Sri Lanka, and two in each of New Zealand, China, Japan, the Philippines, and Thailand.
The freedom of mobility and visits from family members, together with the convicts’ participation in productive activities, facilitate the rehabilitation of offenders in open prisons. The concept of “prison-farms,” or open-air jails, existed in the United States. But the inmates who were moved here were forced to labor while the guards watched. It was later discovered that even in the absence of armed guards, these inmates did not flee while working. The prisoners also develop a sense of responsibility, as evidenced by the following: “The open fields, the lack of gun guards, the lack of regimentation men, the freedom to go to meals and to go unescorted, challenge each individual to begin again to stand on his own feet.” He is always confronted with the simplicity of escape. His rejection of this prospect… shows that he has made a significant social and moral move. By taking on this duty, he has acknowledged to himself that he wants to be a sociable animal instead than an asocial one.
The creation of open-air camps was recommended during the 1952 Hague Conference. It recommended that inmates who have served a significant amount of their sentence be moved to open-air camps with minimal security measures so they can live more like members of the community. The UN Standard Minimum Rules for the treatment of prisoners were adopted during the inaugural United Nations Congress on Prevention of Crime and Treatment of Offenders, which was held in Geneva in 1955. Self-discipline and the lack of prison walls, bars, fences, and armed guards were universally agreed to be the guiding principles for the operation of the open institutions.
OPEN PRISON IN INDIA
Englishmen used to abuse Indian inmates in jail prior to India’s independence. Following independence, the same idea spread, and torture in detention is still very common in our nation. Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the country, emphasized the need of treating inmates humanely. The ancient jurist Manu also believed that punishing criminals arbitrarily would only make them more dangerous; instead, steps should be taken to help the criminals change their ways and realize their mistakes so that they become law-abiding citizens.
In 1836, the first All India Jail Reforms Committee was established to examine the state of jail management in India, which is when the idea of open prisons in India originally emerged.
The report was unfavorable, though, and other committees were subsequently established, but the open jail concept was never able to be implemented. Sir Walter Reckless, a technical expert for the United Nations, visited India in 1952 and submitted a report on the state of prison administration in that country. As a result, the All-India Committee on Jail Reforms was established in 1956, and one of its recommendations recommended the use of open jails as a tool for prisoner reform. These jails were to be built on the principle of “self-discipline” and were to lack armed guards or other measures to prevent convicts from escaping. Subsequently, the Mulla Committee was established, and it was instrumental in the growth of open jails.
In order to build a dam over the Chandraprabha River in Varanasi, the State of Uttar Pradesh was the first to set up an open prison camp, also known as a pen camp, in 1953. In addition to receiving compensation for their labor, the inmates were no longer referred to as such. Despite there being no physical barriers to escape, very few prisoners managed to get out. Nonetheless, the Bombay Presidency made an effort in 1905, but the open jail that was created there was shut down in 1910. The prisoners in the camp were moved to build a dam over the Karamnasa River when the dam was constructed, and a third camp was set up to dig a canal near Shahabad. Following Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra became the first two governments to implement open-air jails, several other states progressively followed suit, establishing open-air prisons for the purpose of reforming and rehabilitating criminals.
CONCLUSION
Open prisons’ significance as a tool for reform and rehabilitation. The fundamental idea of open prisons has made them a response to the issue of overpopulation in closed prisons, notwithstanding certain flaws. Open prisons foster a feeling of self-discipline and social responsibility in their inmates through jobs, family visits, leisure opportunities, and freedom of mobility. The open prison circumstances have made it possible for the inmates to avoid reoffending after being released, and their paid labor enables them to become self-sufficient financially. India’s open jail system still has a ways to go, mainly because different states continue to exclude distinct prisoner classes, which results in underuse of the facilities. Open Prisons will, however, soon play a significant role in the Welfare State’s penal system through the reformation and rehabilitation of inmates if the recommended modifications are implemented.