A murder convict serving a life sentence escaped from Pune’s Yerwada Open Jail on Wednesday, the second incident at the facility this year. So what are open prisons? How are prisoners selected to serve their sentences in open prisons? And how does this translate into fewer sentences?
Open prison concept
In the mid-1950s, the idea of minimum security open prisons was widely discussed in various international forums. In the late 1950s, a committee set up by the Government of India to revise the Prison Rules laid down guidelines for setting up open prisons in the country.
In Maharashtra, the first open prison for convicts was started in 1956 as an annexe of Yerwada Central Jail. The second such facility was established in 1968 at Paithan in Aurangabad (now Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar). The Paithan facility was the first segregated open prison in Maharashtra and is considered an important landmark in the history of the state’s prison administration.
Maharashtra now has 19 open prisons, the second highest in India after Rajasthan, which has 31. Among the 19 open prisons in Maharashtra, there are two for women, one at Yerwada in Pune and the other at Akola.
19 open prisons have the capacity to hold more than 3,300 prisoners and currently there are more than 3,100 prisoners. Yerwada open prison for men has a capacity of about 400 and currently has a capacity of 250, while a prison for women currently has about 60 inmates.
“We need to understand that the central idea behind open prisons is the belief the system places in these inmates. Only after the system trusts the prisoner will the prisoner trust the system. Prisoners serving long sentences in Central Jails are very carefully selected by the committee for admission here. Therefore there is very little security, supervision and nominal perimeter walling or fencing. Various correctional and vocational activities here prepare the inmates for a better life after their sentence,” said a prison official.
How prisoners are selected
States with open prisons have developed their own rules to govern their operations. The Maharashtra Open Jail Rules were framed in 1971 and came into effect in July of the same year.
The Superintendent of the open jail prepares a list of eligible inmates with their case histories. This list is headed by Inspector General of Prisons, Inspector General of Prisons, Deputy Inspector General of Prisons in the area where prisoners are selected, Superintendent of Prisons where prisoners are selected and Superintendent of Open Prisons.
Why should you buy our membership?
You want to be the smartest in the room.
You want access to our award-winning journalism.
You don’t want to be confused and misinformed.
Choose your subscription package
Click here to join Express Pune Whatsapp Channel And get a curated list of our stories