Prisons in Himachal Pradesh and Prison Reforms :

The Department of Prisons is headed by the Director General of Prisons, who, subject to the orders of the State Government, exercises the general control and superintendence over all prisons in the State.

At present the State of Himachal Pradesh has the following prisons:-

1. Model Central Jails      2   (One at Nahan & another at Kanda (Shimla).

2. District Jails                 2   (One at Dharamshala & another at Chamba).

3. Open Air Jail               1    (at Bilaspur) + 6 Extended Facility (at Nahan, Shimla, Chamba, Dharamshala, Mandi and Solan)

4.  Borstal Jail                 1     (at Mandi)

5.  Sub Jails                    8     (One each at Mandi, Kullu, Bilaspur, Solan, Kaithu (Shimla), Una, Nurpur and Hamirpur.

Total                               14

The authorized capacity of all Jails in Himachal Pradesh is 1626 including 106 female prisoners. Besides above,  one Barrack each in central Jail Nahan & Kanda, District Jail Dharamshala, Chamba and Sub Jails of Solan and Mandi have been declared for the purpose of housing inmates entitled for open air jail facility.

Facilities Provides to Prisoners in State :

Medical Facilites : Whole time Doctors are posted, one each, in Central Jails at Kanda (Shimla), & Nahan, District Jail Dharamshala and Open Air Jail Bilaspur. Doctors from Local Civil Hospitals visit the remaining Jails on part-time for the medical check-up/treatment of the prisoners lodged there. One post of Dispenser/Pharmacist has also been sanctioned for each of the Jails/Sub Jails to assist the Doctors.

In cases of serious illness, prisoners are sent to the District Hospitals, Indira Gandhi Medical College Shimla, PGI Chandigarh and the Hospitals situated in New Delhi. Mentally ill prisoners are sent to Mental Hospital Boileuganj. Expenditure on medical treatment is borne by the Government. Special medical check-up camps are organized by the Doctors of Indira Gandhi Medical College Shimla and voluntary organizations to treat the ailing prisoners. To overcome the HIV/AIDS public health challenge, Integrated Counselling & Testing Centers (ICTC) has been established in 04 Jails, i.e. Central Jails at Nahan and Kanda (Shimla), Open Air Jail at Bilaspur and Sub Jail at Mandi in collaboration with HP State AIDS Control Society. In these centres counselling of prisoners is being done thereby bringing about the awareness regarding the hazards of this disease. This programme is successfully running in these Jails.

Parole/temporary release of prisoners under the H.P. good conduct prisoners (temporary release) act, 1968 :

Convicted prisoners undergoing sentence in jails are released temporarily on parole/furlough for a period not more than 84 days in a year to enable them to carry out repairs to their houses, carry out agricultural operations on their lands, to attend marriages of their children under the H.P. Good Conduct Prisoners’ (Temporary Release) Act, 1968. During the year 2011-12, 615 prisoners were released on parole/furlough. In 55 cases requests for the parole were rejected, as their cases were not found fit for release on parole.

Major programme and scheme with targets :

During the year 2011-12 (under State plan Scheme 2007-12) a provision of  100.00 Lac was made. Out of which a sum of 75.00 Lac has been provided for completion of under construction Jail Building at Chamba and 25.00 Lac was provided for the construction of Sewerage Treatment Plant at Model Central Jail, Kanda (Shimla). The construction work of District Jail, Chamba completed except some minor works which is under progress and the construction work of Sewerage Treatment Plant at Model Central Jail, Kanda (Shimla) is being taken by the Executing Agency i.e. HPSIDC Ltd.

Other Facilities :                                          

Library : Books and Newspapers are provided in all the Jails/Sub Jails of the State for improving the knowledge and recreation of inmates.
 

Literacy : Prisoners lodged in the Jails are provided stationery articles at Govt. expense. In special circumstances, the prisoners are permitted to appear in academic examinations by granting them parole/furlough. The post of TGT & JBT is sanctioned in the department for better education.

Training of jail staff : The Jail Officers of the status of Superintendent Jail/Deputy Superintendent Jail/ Assistant Superintendent Jail and Head Warders/Warders are deputed to undergo in-service training at Sampurnanand Jail Training Institute Lucknow (U.P.) as there is no Jail Training Institution in the State. However, Jail Officers/Officials are also deputed for short term courses for 03 to 05 days duration to Regional Institute of Correctional Administration, Chandigarh and the Himachal Institute of Public Administration, Fair Lawns Shimla-171012. 

Free legal aid facility : The prisoners are provided copies of decisions by the respective Superintendent Jails at the Govt. expense for the purpose of filing appeals and petitions in the Hon’ble Courts of Law.

Prison Reforms and measures :

The objective of reformation in Prisons is that the prisoners on release may rehabilitate themselves as good citizens in the society after their release and may find gainful employment for earning their livelihood. The medical facilities, the living conditions in Prisons as also the training for this purpose imparted to them play a pivotal role in the reformation process.

1. One Barrack each in Jails of Kanda, Nahan, Solan, Mandi, Dharmshala and Chamba got declared for the purpose of housing inmates entitled for Open Air Jail facility. This concept is successfully implemented for the first time in the country in Dharmshala and Chamba Jails and will be implemented in other Jails in the State after selection/verification from the DMs. and SPs. 

2. Provided Doordarshan (DTH) facility for all Jail inmates. 

3. Computers were provided to all Jails in the State and data was uploaded after implementing ePrison Software.

4. HIV/AIDS awareness camps were organized in Jails for voluntary testing of HIV/ AIDS. 

5. Arrangements were made for Yoga/Meditation Camps/Cultural Programmes, legal aid Camps and spiritual discourses in the Prisons. 

6. Music systems were provided and PT, Jogging and Bhajans in Jails were introduced to reduce stress level of prisoners. 

7. Prisoners were encouraged to pursue National Open School Programmes, IGNOU programmes and other Skill Development Programmes. 

8. Verification by DM and SP of Jail inmates seeking parole will now be done once in three years instead of each times of parole. 

9. For the first time Prison Stalls were established at Kullu Dusshehra, Rampur Lavi, Renuka Fair and Red Cross Fair etc. for the sale of products manufactured by the prisoners i.e. Furniture and Wooden products, Shawls, Carpets, Pine Needle Products, Blankets etc. 

10. Diaries have started functioning at Kanda and Nahan Jails.

11. Canteens have been established inside all Jails of HP. 

Prison Products : Blankets, Traditonal Shawls, Flower Bouquets, Furniture, Domestic Wooden Temples, Eco Friendly Caps.

At present there are 17 prisons of different categories in the State including 02 Central Jails, 10 District Jails, 01 Open Air Jail 01 Borstal Jail to lodge young offenders and 03 Sub Jails. Taking the motto of care and rehabilitation work forward we are proud to have provided 01 Barrack in each of the Model Central Jails at Kanda and Nahan and Districts Jails at Dharamshala,Chamba, Solan and Mandi to provide Open Air Jail facility to the eligible inmates.

 Prisons Capacity : Against a capacity of 2007 inmates, are accommodating 2338 inmates in prisons. 

                      Government is  committed to provide safe custody to all our inmates and have also embarked upon a number of schemes to improve infrastructure, living environment, wage earning schemes, skill development and lot of other vocational, spiritual, cultural and educational activities. The inmates are encouraged to pursue programmes offered by the National Open School and Indira Gandhi National Open School. 

                                       The Directorate of Prisons and Correctional Administration has been experiencing winds of modernization with installation of e-Peshi and e-Prisons Softwares and facility of Video Conferencing not only between the Headquarters and Prisons but also between relatives and inmates. The e-Peshi system has considerably reduced logistic requirement of safe transportation of the undertrial inmates from the prisons to the courts and vice-versa. 

    In 2016, govt. initiated a wage earning scheme “Har Hath Ko Kaam” which has brought out remarkable improvement in the earning of wages by the inmates from a meagre earning of ` 5.00 Lakh as wages till 2015, in FY 2017-18 the inmates earned wages to the tune of more than ` 01.00 Crore. 

                                       The inmates are engaged in a lot of productive activities and their products like the bakery items, woven items like shawls, stoles, carpets, blankets and other handicraft items are much appreciated by the general public during various fairs where special stalls of the products are a huge draw.