Prison authorities of Rajasthan have arranged the highest number of e-meets for prisoners and their kins. According to data collected between April 1 and June 5, the officials have reportedly conducted 1,00,746 e-meetings, despite the second wave of corona affecting the nation. After Rajasthan, Bihar registered the second-highest number of e-meets arranged at 58,891. The isolation faced by all during this pandemic has made everyone realise the importance of human contact, hence, empathetic authorities ensured that even prisoners get a chance to spend time with their families.
Initiative taken on the advisory of the apex court
Rajasthan’s Director General of prisons stated that jail administration arranged these e-meets following the guidelines and advisory issued by the apex court. These guidelines mentioned that staying away from family members can increase the risk of depression among prisoners.
In compliance with these orders, an initiative was launched and it was ensured that each prisoner e-meets with their family members at least once a week. Before this directive was issued by the apex court, prisoners were allowed to talk to their kins over the phone.
Best prison arrangements across the country
According to a Justice report by the Tata Trust, Rajasthan has been adjudged as the number one state in terms of prison arrangements in 2021. However, Rajasthan ranked 12th when the 2020 rankings were released and this jump marks a significant growth.
The scenario of prison e-meets across India
Rajasthan’s jail administration arranged the highest number of video conferences in the country. Third on the list, after Bihar, is Delhi with 34,368 video conferences, followed by Gujarat closely at 33,821. Madhya Pradesh reserves the 5th spot with 19,132 virtual meetings.
Further, it has been reported that prisoners in states like Assam, Manipur, Maharashtra, Haryana, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Sikkim and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands stayed away from their families in totality. On the other hand, in states like Punjab, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Goa, authorities could not cross the benchmark of 50 with respect to these e-meetings.
-With inputs from IANS