Karnal jail to have open-air camp facility

Parveen Arora

Besides providing training to develop market-oriented job skills among inmates, the Karnal jail will soon have an open air camp (prison). The Prison Department has taken up Karnal and Faridabad under the pilot project. For the effective implementation of the project, the state government had formulated the Haryana Prisoners Open Air Camp Rules 2018.

The authorities concerned claim that eligible prisoners will be allowed to take employment in the open camp area and live with their families as part of the rehabilitation process under the project. It will also help prisoners to reintegrate with society after their release from the jail. The aim of the project is to encourage good conduct, satisfactory performance of work and a life of self-discipline among the prisoners.

The Haryana Police Housing Corporation (HPHC) is carrying out the work on this ambitious project on a war footing. The authorities are hopeful that it will be completed by May end; the  deadline is June 21.

“The district jail has 30 quarters for Class IV employees, which are lying unoccupied. At a cost of Rs 80 lakh, these quarters are being made liveable and a boundary wall is being constructed. The project was initiated in December last year with the June 21 deadline. But we are hopeful that it will be completed by May end,” says Sanjeev Kumar Verma, XEN, HPHC.

The jail authorities have started the process to identify prisoners. “We are identifying eligible prisoners on the basis of the fixed criteria,” says Sher Singh, Jail Superintendent, District Jail, Karnal.

The Jail Superintendent says that an open-air camp is a place where prisoners are kept under supervision instead of in lock-up. This kind of jail is established in the vicinity of the regular prison. In the open-air camp, a prisoner is allowed to keep his family in quarters. A prisoner with whom no family member is ready to live is not allowed to shift to the camp. These quarters have the facilities of electricity and water supply and other basic amenities to be provided by the jail authorities, while the prisoners will have to arrange for food, clothing and other requirements of daily routine for himself as well as his family members from his own earnings, he adds.

Sher Singh says that a prisoner will earn his livelihood by undertaking one or more works such as dairy farming, agriculture, manufacturing activities, industrial tasks, in information technology and service sector, construction or repair works. He can also manage canteens and shops opened by the department.

If a prisoner has no work to perform in the open-air camp, the Jail Superintendent may allow him to work outside within a radius of 15 km of the jail. The prison authorities can visit his place of work anytime. If the prisoner is not found at his workplace, he will be transferred to the regular prison from the open-air camp and will be proceeded against as per the Punjab Jail Manual, as applicable to Haryana. In case of misconduct by any family member of a prisoner, the Jail Superintendent can send him or her out of the jail, he says.

Crèche to be set up

Sher Singh says that a prisoner may be allowed to keep a television set, games and other recreational items in the open-air camp at his own cost. A crèche for children below six years of age will also be set up. The jail authorities have to ensure security, including deployment of guards, and CCTV cameras, and the duty staff will be changed every week.

If a prisoner escapes from the camp, legal action will be initiated against him. All remissions earned by an escapee prisoner will be forfeited. Besides, the surety bond offered by the prisoner at the time of his shifting to the open-air camp will also be forfeited.

Open-air camp in vicinity of regular prison

An open-air camp is a place where prisoners are kept under supervision instead of in lock-up. This kind of jail is established in the vicinity of the regular prison. In the open-air camp, a prisoner is allowed to keep his family in quarters. A prisoner with whom no family member is ready to live is not allowed to shift to the camp. These quarters have the facilities of electricity and water supply and other basic amenities to be provided by the jail authorities, while the prisoners will have to arrange for food, clothing and other requirements of daily routine for himself as well as his family members from his own earnings. —Sher Singh, Jail Superintendent, District Jail, Karnal

Ineligible Prisoners

• A hardcore prisoner as defined in the Haryana Good Conduct Prisoners (Temporary Release) Act 1988
• Below 30 years
• Medically unfit 
• Undertrial, civil prisoner
• Chargesheeted or convicted in more than one case
• Prisoner having unexpired sentence of not less than two years
• Those punished for a major prison offence in the last three years
• Not a permanent resident or whose family members do not have a permanent residence in Haryana
• Prisoner who had no interview (mulaqat) in last six months
• Prisoner who has not availed of parole (furlough) in the last five years