{"id":262640,"date":"2023-10-03T20:25:15","date_gmt":"2023-10-03T14:55:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=262640"},"modified":"2023-10-03T20:43:23","modified_gmt":"2023-10-03T15:13:23","slug":"counting-deaths-in-indias-prisons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/counting-deaths-in-indias-prisons\/","title":{"rendered":"Counting deaths in India\u2019s prisons"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Source:<\/strong> This post is created based on the article \u2018Counting deaths in India\u2019s prisons,<\/strong> published in The Hindu<\/strong> on 3rd<\/sup> October, 2023.<\/p>\n

Syllabus Topic:<\/strong> GS Paper 2, Social Issues, Criminal Justice System, prison reforms<\/p>\n

News:<\/strong> The Supreme Court Committee on Prison Reforms has highlighted that suicides are the main cause of ‘unnatural’ deaths among Indian prisoners.<\/p>\n

How deaths in the prisons are classified?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) publishes the data related to prison deaths annually in Prison Statistics India (PSI) report. In 2021, a total of 2,116 prisoners died in judicial custody, with almost 90% of cases recorded as natural deaths.<\/p>\n

The report classifies the prison deaths into 2 parts: 1) Natural deaths 2) Unnatural deaths<\/p>\n

Natural Deaths<\/strong>: Natural deaths are due to ageing and illnesses, including heart conditions, HIV, tuberculosis, and cancer.<\/p>\n

Unnatural Deaths<\/strong>: Unnatural deaths encompass a variety of causes, such as suicide, assault, negligence, and accidents.<\/p>\n

What are the Challenges in prison system of India?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Ambiguity in classification<\/strong>: The Supreme Court has pointed out that the distinction between natural and unnatural deaths is unclear. For instance, if a prisoner dies due to a lack of timely medical attention, it’s uncertain whether it’s a natural or unnatural death. This ambiguity, combined with under-reporting and lack of investigation, often results in many deaths being labelled as ‘natural’.<\/p>\n

Overcrowding<\/strong>: During the pandemic, prisons were overcrowded, with an occupancy rate of 118%.<\/p>\n

Insufficient infrastructure and facilities<\/strong>: The sanctioned strength of medical staff was not sufficient, with one staff member catering to 219 inmates. There is a significant shortage of staff, with many positions vacant in several states.<\/p>\n

Medical budget<\/strong>: Only 5% of the expenditure was on medical facilities, and funds allocated for inmates were underutilized.<\/p>\n

Investigation of Deaths:<\/strong> Since 1993, the NCRB is mandated to report a custodial death within 24 hours. However, the process is often not stringent, with only one disciplinary action taken against an erring official between 2021-22.<\/p>\n

As per the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) report, suicide rate among inmates was found to be more than twice the rate recorded in the general population.<\/p>\n

Government initiatives for prison reforms <\/strong><\/p>\n

The Model Prison Manual of 2016 and the Mental Healthcare Act of 2017 emphasize inmates’ right to healthcare.<\/p>\n

The NHRC has issued advisories highlighting the importance of mental health and suicide prevention.<\/p>\n

What should be done to reduce suicide cases in prisons?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

First,<\/strong> allowing inmates to communicate with their families.<\/p>\n

Second,<\/strong> giving prisoners with access to newspaper.<\/p>\n

Third,<\/strong> there should be a strict check on tools that can be used for self-harm.<\/p>\n

Fourth,<\/strong> mental health screenings should be done upon entry.<\/p>\n

Fifth, <\/strong>CCTV cameras should be installed for monitoring.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Source: This post is created based on the article \u2018Counting deaths in India\u2019s prisons, published in The Hindu on 3rd October, 2023. Syllabus Topic: GS Paper 2, Social Issues, Criminal Justice System, prison reforms News: The Supreme Court Committee on Prison Reforms has highlighted that suicides are the main cause of ‘unnatural’ deaths among Indian… Continue reading Counting deaths in India\u2019s prisons<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10320,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1230,9],"tags":[212,8131,10498],"class_list":["post-262640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-pm-daily-articles","category-public","tag-gs-paper-2","tag-social-issues","tag-the-hindu","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":{"total":5,"cached_at":"","cached_date":1698450705},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10320"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=262640"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262640\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=262640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=262640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=262640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}