The government will provide financial support to poor prisoners unable to afford their penalties or bail amounts, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced in her Budget speech on Wednesday.
“In terms of support for poor persons who are in prisons and are unable to afford the penalty or bail amount, the required financial support will be provided,” Sitharaman said.
In her speech at Constitution Day celebrations in November, President Droupadi Murmu suggested the decongestion of jails and helping the poor prisoners languishing there. She questioned the need for setting up more jails while highlighting the plight of the poor in prisons.
Days after the speech, the Supreme Court directed prison authorities to provide details of such prisoners within 15 days to the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) for formulating a national scheme for their release.
On Tuesday, NALSA informed the court that about 5,000 undertrial prisoners were in jail despite being granted bail.