CJI launches skill development centres, polytechnic courses for inmates across Haryana jails

The CJI proposed district-level reintegration boards with probation officers, employers, civil society and mental health professionals to ensure inmates have a concrete path forward after leaving prison.

Gurugram: Chief Justice of India Surya Kant inaugurated skill development centres, ITI-level vocational courses and polytechnic programmes for inmates across Haryana jails on Friday.

Chief Justice of India Surya Kant inaugurates Polytechnic for Diploma Courses at District Prison Bhondsi on Saturday. (PTI)

The initiative, launched under the “Empowering Lives Behind Bars” project at the Bhondsi district prison, aims to transform prisons into spaces of learning, mental rehabilitation and employability.

The CJI, while addressing a gathering of judges, senior officials and legal services authorities, stressed that the purpose of incarceration cannot end at punishment.

“Reintegration must become a planned, systematic process — not merely a matter of hope,” he said. He further warned that without skill training and guidance, prisons risk becoming “places where disadvantages deepen and custodial cycles repeat.”

He proposed district-level reintegration boards with probation officers, employers, civil society and mental health professionals to ensure inmates have a concrete path forward after leaving prison.

“While skills open doors, psychological stability enables individuals to walk confidently through them,” the CJI said and called for trauma counseling and addiction treatment inside correctional facilities.

The programme introduces diploma and vocational training in trades such as computer engineering, sewing, electrician work, cosmetology, welder certification and logistics. He also noted that industry partnerships could “transform ability into opportunity” by offering apprenticeships and hiring trained inmates.

The CJI also flagged specific vulnerabilities of migrant workers in custody and called for simplified bail procedures and multilingual legal support to prevent “mobility-related challenges” from turning into long periods of detention. “Human rights must prevail over punitive impulses,” he said.

At the event, other judges of the Supreme Court and Punjab and Haryana High Court echoed support for a shift from custodial punishment to reformatory justice. SC judge Ahsanuddin Amanullah said the society must accept reformed individuals not as former offenders, but as citizens striving to rebuild their lives with dignity.

Justice Augustine George Masih noted that a true prison reform “humanises incarceration and prioritises rehabilitation and reintegration.”

The CJI also launched a month-long statewide anti-drug awareness campaign across Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh. The campaign includes school outreach, nukkad nataks, capacity building and counselling drives to prevent addiction.

Haryana chief secretary Anurag Rastogi pledged full government support to implement the ideas. “Skill development in prisons is not just humane — it is our most effective public safety strategy,” he said, adding that linking prison training with post-release employment would be a priority.

Officials described the launch as a “paradigm shift” toward data-driven correctional justice.