Panel to be set up for providing financial assistance to poor prisoners

Additional chief secretary (ACS), home, jails, criminal investigation and administration of justice, Sumita Misra on Thursday said that relief must not remain on paper but translate into tangible human impact, offering dignity, fairness, and a second chance to those imprisoned solely due to poverty.

The Haryana government will constitute an empowered committee in every district for identifying, assessing, and facilitating financial assistance to poor prisoners who are unable to secure bail or pay fines.

All deputy commissioners have been directed to send detailed compliance reports within 15 days. (Getty Images/Vetta)

Additional chief secretary (ACS), home, jails, criminal investigation and administration of justice, Sumita Misra on Thursday said that relief must not remain on paper but translate into tangible human impact, offering dignity, fairness, and a second chance to those imprisoned solely due to poverty. She said that comprehensive directions for the immediate and effective implementation of the support to poor prisoners scheme have been issued to ensure equitable access to justice and humane support for underprivileged inmates.

The empowered committee will consist of the district magistrate, secretary of the District Legal Services Authority, superintendent of police, superintendent/deputy superintendent of the prison, and judge in-charge of the prison as a nominee of the district judge.

Acting upon the guidelines and standard operating procedures laid down by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, Misra has also directed the director general of prisons and deputy commissioners to take proactive and time-bound measures in the letter and spirit of the scheme.

The ACS said that in order to strengthen execution, the committees will appoint a nodal officer and collaborate with civil society representatives, social workers or district probation officers. These stakeholders will support case processing and ensure timely relief reaches eligible inmates.

The prisons department and district magistrates have been directed to hold regular meetings of the empowered committees, visit prisons, spread awareness about the scheme among jail staff and inmates, and prepare accurate lists of beneficiaries. All deputy commissioners have been directed to send detailed compliance reports within 15 days.