Centre seeks details about TN Government's prison reforms programme

Union Home Ministry has sought details about a Tamil Nadu Government's novel programme aimed at reforming prisoners for possible replication in other states, a top police official said today.

Tamil Nadu Prisons Department has recently launched an Intensive Reformation Programme (IRP) under which an Intensive Reformation Block (IRB) has been launched in prisons, S K Dogra, ADGP (Prisons), Tamil Nadu, told reporters here. The concept was to change the negative mental attitude of a prisoner to positive, he said.

As part of reforms, it was planned to start government-run telephone booths in all the 58 prisons, Dogra said, adding, the system was expected to become operational by July end. The prisoners would be issued biometric card for the purpose, he said.

Another major concept was "Prison Bazaar" where the inmates would be able to learn latest technical skills in manufacturing goods. He said no major clash or other serious incidents took place in prisons during the last one year in the state. On the recent incident of banned articles including mobile phones being smuggled into the Central Prison here, Dogra described it as 'a freak and isolated incident' made possible by the connivance of three warders with as many prisoners.

"From my inquiry it is obvious that strict access control at the gates led some prisoners to connive with three warders to smuggle the contraband goods into the prison," he said.

Dogra was responding to a question on the seizure of a big parcel, containing the gadgets, which was flung into the prison complex from outside the compound on June 25.

He said the three warders had already been suspended and the three prisoners with whom they had connived shifted to Puzhal Central Prison in Chennai for intensive reformation training.