The Inspector General of Prisons on Tuesday informed the Madras High Court of having established a telephone booth at the open air prison at Pursai Udaippu in Sivaganga district to enable prisoners to contact their friends and family members. The prisoners had begun to utilise the facility from November 3.
In a status report filed before a Division Bench of Justices M. Sathyanarayanan and P. Rajamanickam, IGP Ashutosh Shukla said, a Government Order was issued way back on Decemebr 31, 2015, sanctioning a telephone facility at the open air jail. However, the facility could become operational only this month.
Foreign prisoners
Insofar as foreigners lodged in various prisons in the State were concerned, necessary consular access was being provided to all them to address their special needs, he said. However, “provision of distance call facility will be considered in due course after consultation with other agencies involved in this issue,” the IGP added.
The status report was filed in response to a preliminary report submitted by senior counsel R. Vaigai who had been appointed by the court as an amicus curiae in a suo motu public interest litigation petition taken up by it last year on the basis of Supreme Court directions to ensure better facilities in prisons across the State.
The IGP asserted that no mentally challenged prisoners were detained in any of the prisons in the State.
“They are directly taken to the Institute of Mental Health at Kilpauk in Chennai by the prosecuting authority on the reception order from the courts concerned,” he said. Prisoners with suicidal tendencies were closely watched by the prison officials as well as medical staff and provided with counselling by psychologists and counsellors available in all central prisons in the State. “Deficiencies in the existing facilities like sanitation, water supply, food, medical assistance will be attended to on a urgent basis,” he added.
As per the Tamil Nadu Prison Rules of 1983, inmates of prisons were allowed to stay out of the lock-up only between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. After being locked up, they were allowed to read newspapers, books and listen to the radio till 9.30 p.m. every day. The lights would be switched off at 9:30 p.m. by when they were expected to go to bed.
Reverse osmosis plants had been established in all central prisons to provide good quality potable drinking water to the inmates. Similarly, toilets were being well maintained as per the ratio of 1:6 during day time and 1:10 during night hours as per the model prison manual of 2016, the IGP claimed.
Further, stating that prisons have been provided with ambulances to transport the sick to the government hospitals in cases of emergencies, Mr. Shukla said, “The life of a prisoner is given top priority by this department... The medical department may be requested to ensure presence of specialists for a specific time slot on a daily basis to attend to prisoners who are in need of specialised medical treatment.”
After perusing the report, the judges suo motu impleaded the Health Secretary too as one of the respondents to the case and adjourned further hearing on the case to December 13 for filing of another status report.
