IN A move expected to decongest the prisons, the Centre has decided to launch a special scheme to provide financial support to poor people languishing in jails as they are unable to afford the penalty or the bail amount. “This will enable poor prisoners, majority of whom belong to socially disadvantaged or marginalised groups with lower education and income level, to get out of prison,” the Home Ministry said in a statement on Friday. The broad contours of the scheme - Support for Poor Prisoners - have been finalised in consultation with stakeholders, it said.

To ensure the benefits of the scheme reach the poor prisoners, technology-driven solutions will be put in place, E-prisons platform will be reinforced and District Legal Services Authority will be strengthen, besides stakeholders will be sensitised and stress will be given on capacity building. Providing financial support to poor prisoners who are unable to afford their penalties or bail amounts was one of the announcements Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had made in her Budget speech this year. The Home Ministry said the Government is taking various steps to address the issue of undertrials in prisons. Under this, one of the announcements is ‘Support for Poor Prisoners’. Other steps include inserting Section 436A in the Code of Criminal Procedure and inserting a new chapter XXIA ‘Plea Bargaining’ in the CRPC.

Free legal aid is being provided to poor prisoners through Legal Services Authority at various levels, the ministry said. “Further to ensure the benefits of the budget are extended across all intended sections of the society, one of the priorities of the Budget, namely the guiding ‘Saptarishis’ is reaching the last mile,” it added. Prisons are an important part of the criminal justice system and play a significant role in upholding the rule of law and the Home Ministry has been sharing important guidelines with state Governments through various advisories issued from time to time, the statement said.