Jail term should not aggravate prisoners' sufferings and should help reform them, Union minister G Kishan Reddy said on Thursday, calling for public participation for improving correctional processes.
Reddy was speaking at a national conference on 'Criminal Activities and Radicalisation in Jails: Vulnerability of Inmates and Jail Staff and their Protection', which was organised by the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD) here.
"A conscious policy for improvement of prison organisation and human resources is required for safe and secure custody of prisoners.
"Sentence of imprisonment should lead to social defence against crime. Prison system should not be allowed to aggravate the sufferings in the process of imprisonment," the minister of state for home said.
The participation of experts and eminent persons from various walks of life like education, medicine, psychology in prison correctional services has been "irregular" and this should be bettered, Reddy said.
"Public participation in the correctional services is critical for strengthening the efforts towards reformation of prisoners," he said while addressing police officers from various states and central agencies at the BPRD headquarters here.
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BPRD is the federal policing think tank.
Reddy said it is crucial to accept that the released prisoners are equal, respectable and productive members of the society.
He said while prisons is a state subject, the Modi government has taken various measures for reforms in this field.
In the last 10 years, fast track courts have been established across the country to accelerate the disposal of a large number of pending cases, Reddy said.
"In order to reduce overcrowding and to improve conditions in prisons, the government of India launched an ambitious scheme for modernisation of prisons at a total cost of Rs 1,800 crore," he said.
As part of this scheme, 199 new jails and 1,572 barracks will be created, he said.
The minister said there is "immense scope" for work by voluntary agencies and NGOs in the treatment, aftercare and rehabilitation of offenders.