Uttar Pradesh replaces British jail manual of 1941: What all will change in the state's prisons?

The Uttar Pradesh government will soon do away with the British-era jail manual that carried obsolete provisions like transfer of prisoners to the Andamans and separate lock-ups for European inmates.

The Uttar Pradesh Prison Manual 2022 will replace the Uttar Pradesh Prison Manual [1941] of the pre-Independence era.

Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Prisons and Home Guards Dharamveer Prajapati said the state Cabinet approved the proposal to release the UP Jail Manual-2022, incorporating the guidelines issued by the Central government and courts from time to time.

What is the UP Jail Manual 2022?

The UP Jail Manual has been prepared incorporating the guidelines issued by the Central government and courts from time to time.

The recommendations of the All India Jail Reform Committee and the National Human Rights Commission have also been taken into account in the manual.

What will change in the state’s prisons?

The UP Jail Manual 2022 will bring a slew of changes to make the state prisons more accommodating and with better services for the inmates as well as the jail personnel.

According to The Indian Express, the new manual would ensure a well-equipped armed force along with state-of-the-art anti-riot equipment at prisons.

The jail manual will also bring in a new system extending better facilities to prisoners, especially women prisoners. Some rules pertaining to prisoners of ‘princely states’ and those of Nepal, Bhutan, Sikkim and Kashmir have also been abolished.

The punishment of ‘kala pani’ has been abolished after 100 years, under which prisoners could be sent to the cellular jail in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

The new manual will allow women prisoners to wear salwar suits and ‘mangal sutra’. Pregnant women and mothers inside the jail will be provided with nutritious food and medical facilities.

According to the new rules, the naming ceremony of a child born in the jail will be done there. Not only this, the government will also make arrangements for the education and food of these children.

The children will be allowed to live with their mothers till the age of six.

The Indian Express reported that the UP Jail Manual 2022 proposes creche, proper education, medical, vaccination for children aged between three to six years of age living with women prisoners in jail.

Children aged four to six will be admitted to any educational institute outside the jail after obtaining their mother’s consent.

Food menus for prisoners will also see a change as sweet dishes like kheer and sevai will be given on major festivals. During Ramzan, arrangements will be made for dates and fruits for Muslim prisoners.

Compulsory digitisation of all the information related to prisoners will be done under the e-prison system, for which an information technology cell will be established in the prison headquarters.

Post-mortem has been made mandatory on the death of a prisoner.

Earlier the selection of the category of jails was done according to the district, but now four categories of jails will be decided on the basis of the number of prisoners.

The ‘A’ category prison would be for more than 2,000 prisoners and the ‘B’ category for 1,500 to 2,000 prisoners. The number of prisoners in category ‘C’ would be 1,000 to 1,500 and that of category ‘D’ would be determined on the basis of the number of prisoners up to 1,000.

According to the new rules, arrangements have been made to organize a ‘Bandi Panchayat’ for the participation of the prisoners. Such arrangements will be made to make the prisoners appear directly from the jails through video conferencing.

With inputs from agencies

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