Essay on Open Prison Camps in India (469 Words) !
Taking inspiration from Anglo-American developments in the correctional field of penology, the Indian penologists were convinced that India also cannot successfully tackle its crime problem by putting criminals in prison cells indiscriminately. Experience has shown that dumping the convicts in overcrowded prison cells serves no useful purpose.
It is a known fact that Indian prisons are overcrowded. The percentage of overcrowding, however, varies from prison to prison. It has been observed by the Supreme Court that overcrowding per se is not constitutionally impermissible, there is no doubt that it contributes to a greater risk of disease, higher noise levels, surveillance problem etc.
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That apart, life becomes more difficult for inmates and work more onerous for prison staff when prisoners are in overcapacity. Yet another baneful effect of overcrowding is that it does not permit segregation among hardened offenders and the first offenders who are generally corrigibles. The result may be that hardened criminal may spread their influence over others.
The institution of open prison seems to be a viable alternative to reduce overcrowding in prisons. The whole thrust in these open-prison institutions is to make sure that after release the prisoners may not relapse into crimes and for this purpose they are given incentives to live a normal free life, work on fields or carry on occupation of their choice and participate in games, sports or other recreational facilities.
It is thus evident that the object of the open-prison system is to inculcate in the prisoners a sense of self-discipline and social responsibility and at the same time, ease the burden of overcrowded prisons.
It has now been generally accepted that primary function of law and punishment is to protect the society from criminals and this can best be achieved by bringing a change in the attitude of offenders towards their fellowmen. Open air camps have been used as one of the best tools for rehabilitation of offenders in society.
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The modem prison policy and techniques of handling criminals are by no means new to Indian penology. In ancient India, the emphasis was on reformation of the offender rather than punishing him indiscriminately. In ancient times, the eminent Hindu jurist Manu, through his famous writings made it clear that unjust and harsh punishment makes the criminal more dangerous to society and also brings disrepute to law-administrators.
He therefore, strongly pleaded that offenders should be placed in such surroundings that they can think and realise for themselves that what they did was not in the interest of society nor was it in their own interest. This sense of self-realisation would make the offenders responsive to reformative methods of treatment in prisons. Mann the eminent Hindu Law commentator, strongly pleaded that an effective scheme of after-care can certainly help in bringing about rehabilitation of even the most dangerous and hardened criminals.