750 Tihar inmates get remission in jail terms

For 750 Tihar convicts, including 50 women, the 66th Independence Day brought joy and hope on Wednesday with the prison administration granting them remission of up to 45 days.

For 750 Tihar convicts, including 50 women, the 66th Independence Day brought joy and hope on Wednesday with the prison administration granting them remission of up to 45 days.

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Tihar jail's chief, director general (prison) Vimla Mehra gave the special remission to the group of 750 -odd convicts in acknowledgment of their good conduct in the jail over the past one year. Thanks to the remission, around 25 of these convicts, including five women, were released on Wednesday while the rest are expected to leave for their homes soon on completion of their jail-terms. Tihar jail has around 12,000 inmates, out of which 600 are women.

"The 750 convicts who got the DG's special remission belong to the category of petty offenders who were charged with offences ranging from traveling ticket-less in train to violation of excise laws," said the jail's spokesperson Sunil Gupta.

Convicts — charged with serious offences including those covered by the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 — were barred from the exercise.

For convicts with a one-year jail-term, the remission was of 15 days. For convicts with up to five year jail-term the remission was for 30 days, while for those with over five-year jail-terms the remission was of 45 days, said Gupta.

The prison administration will also soon introduce two new vocational courses for women inmates to equip them with stenography and cake-making skills, said Gupta. Besides, modules to teach English and three foreign languages —Spanish, French and Chinese — will also be introduced for all inmates.