Emotion ran high at the Vellore Central Prison on Thursday, as prisoners met their family members and friends after a gap of over 10 months. With beaming smiles and tear-filled eyes, prisoners and their families stood at either side of a grill partition. A total of 60 people met the prisoners in the Vellore Central Prison and Special Prison for Women on the day of Pongal.
“Normally, interviews [meetings] are not permitted on government holidays, but this was an exception on Pongal day for the prisoners and their families to bring some smiles, satisfaction and special feelings during this difficult time of COVID-19,” said Director General of Prisons and Correctional Services, Sunil Kumar Singh.
As on date, Vellore prison has a capacity of 2,130 and has an occupancy of 688 and the Special Prison for Women has a capacity of 469 and has an occupancy of 129. “A total of 75 persons registered for interviews at Central Prison, Vellore, and 59 attended. One person attended the interview at the Special Prison for Women. We had stopped these interviews ever since the lockdown began,” he added.
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The decision was taken after studying the practices at other prisons. “All COVID-19 Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) were followed during the interviews. Interviews shall be permitted on advance booking only through the E-Prison Visitors Management System or by calling the landline numbers and such meetings will be permitted only once a month,” said a prison official.
The official said that the meeting timing has been reduced to 15 minutes from 30 minutes. “During the lockdown, the prisoners spoke to their family members through video call. They were very happy,” Mr. Sunil Kumar Singh claimed.