State Correctional Admin dept sets up cottages for inmates, allows them more family time
Kolkata: The state Correctional Administration department has provided a unique opportunity to the inmates of an open-air correctional home to spend time with their family members by setting up 20 cottages inside the campus of Lalgola open-air correctional home in Murshidabad where inmates are allowed to stay with their kin from 7 am to 6 pm.
“The open-air correctional home is an open jail in the real sense of the term as the inmates enjoy complete freedom of movement. There is no system of day lock-up. However, due to logistics issues, the inmates could hardly travel to their homes to spend adequate time with their family members. Now, with the cottages being set up they can comfortably do so," Akhil Giri, state Correctional Administration minister said.
There are four open-air correctional homes at Lalgola, Raiganj (North Dinajpur), Durgapur (West Burdwan) and Midnapore that house around 1200 to 1300 inmates. The gates are opened at 7 am and locked at 8 pm. During this interim period, the prisoners are free to go anywhere and pursue any vocation within or outside the correctional home premises. They have to return at 8 pm.
“In recent times, we have involved a number of inmates of these open-air correctional homes in various works of different government departments like Panchayats and Rural Development, Horticulture, Public Works Department, Animal Resources Development etc which are non-technical in nature. The move has ensured an assured income for them," Giri added. The minister said that as these inmates are involved in government work, keeping track of them has also been relatively easy. There is a high-power committee that monitors the system of the prisoners being released till they return at night. Convicts sentenced to imprisonment for a period of 7 years or more, having already served 2/3rd of their sentence with a good behavioural record inside prison, are eligible for transfer to the open-air correctional home after thorough screening and personal interview by a board constituted for such selection.
