The Punjab government has decided to help prisoners spend some quality time with their families. For this, it would build 48 residential suites where inmates can spend one whole week with their spouses.
The work of building these residential suites has already begun in Faridkot and Kapurthala jails, Anil Kaushik, director-general (prisons), said. These suites are expected to be ready within six to eight months.
However, all prisoners wouldn’t be entitled to this benefit. Only
those behaving well and following prison discipline would be given this facility.
Prison administrators feel this initiative might help improve the general atmosphere within jails. The family suites would include a bedroom, kitchen, bathroom and lobby. “Because of the legal framework, convicts cannot be allowed to stay with their families. So, we decided to give them an opportunity to spend a week with their families in these residential suites,” Kaushik said.
Since they are isolated from the world, prisoners suffer stress and tend to get hooked to drugs or resort to violence within jail. But administrators hope the proposed facility would fulfil their need for company.
The DG said the facility would particularly be of help to inmates who cannot leave jail or cannot go out on parole. “There have been cases when a person has remained in jail for more than three years as an undertrial. In such cases, we need to be more humane, since the undertrial’s spouse has not done anything wrong,” Kaushik said.
The new system is likely to be up and running by the year-end and we will be hoping it keeps prisoners away from drugs,” he said.
