A ‘second chance’ school that outlasted the British. Maharashtra just scrapped the law governing it.

Outwardly, nothing signals what the institution is. Yet there is little ordinary about it. Standing on 300 acres, the Nashik Borstal School once provided an alternative to prison for adolescent offenders between the ages of 16 and 21, often acting as a bridge between childhood and adulthood.

Experts believe there is a need to redefine the borstal system within the changing context of criminal justice. (Express Photo)

On March 17, the Maharashtra government repealed the little-known Bombay Borstal Schools Act, 1929 — one of 80 laws repealed that day. For the Nashik Borstal School, already functioning in a grey zone — with its inmates under the Juvenile Justice Act but its structure and administration under the prison department — the move raises questions about its future. “We have not been informed yet if there is going to be any change after the Act was repealed,” says one official at the borstal. A prison department official, too, confirms this.

For their part, experts believe there is a need to redefine the borstal system within the changing context of criminal justice. “There could have been amendments made to the law to change the age criteria and rehaul the infrastructure, redefining industrial training and rehabilitation,” says Asha Mukundan, associate professor at the Centre of Criminology and Justice, Tata Institute of Social Sciences.

She adds: “The repeal of the Act and the closing of such an institution without consultation may not have been a good idea. There could have been a revival of the Act. The JJ Act, 2025, requires a ‘place of safety’ for those between the ages of 16-18, with a focus on correctional services. The Borstal School could have been formally declared as an institution within the J J Act”.

A British-era system

According to Prison Statistics of India, 2023, there are 10 borstal schools in India. While the law exists in some states, most homes function under the Juvenile Justice Act, 2000.

Started in the UK, borstals were introduced in India during colonial rule as “second chance” institutions for young offenders. Unlike present-day correctional homes, these borstals did not take offenders under 16. Courts sent young male offenders between 16 and 21 to such borstals, focused on education and training. They were released at 21.

Borstals were introduced in India in 1925 following recommendations of the Indian Jail Committee Report, 1919–1920. The school, set up in Dharwar in 1930, later moved to Kolhapur and then to Nashik in 1990 from a repurposed sub-jail.

Borstal schools come under the prison department, with jail authorities identifying eligible young offenders.

While the borstal law continued to be enforced well into the late 90s, the enactment of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2000, made its application complex due to conflicting provisions. The JJ Act redefined a juvenile as “a person less than 18 years of age” — meaning nobody under that age could be sent to prison.

Borstal schools differed from special homes under the JJ Act. Unlike special homes, the head of a borstal is called a principal, with posts such as housemaster, teachers and counsellors.

As the JJ Act eclipsed the borstal law, inmate numbers dwindled. In the early 2000s, the Nashik school began enrolling juveniles.

“It began working as a special home under the JJ Act, where children in conflict with law are sent after the inquiry by the Juvenile Justice Board,” one official said. “Two minors involved in the gangrape at Shakti Mills in 2013 were sent to the Nashik Home in 2014 for three years.”

“Many boys were sent here as they were seen as unmanageable by the Observation Home and Special Home staff,” a former vice-principal at the school says.

Nashik’s ‘second chance’ school

On a campus built for 105, only five inmates now remain. Two of the five are playing carrom while one sits reading; two others are asleep inside.

“Even though the inmates are sent to the Nashik Borstal School under the J J Act, the functioning of the institute continues to be like a borstal school under the Maharashtra prison department,” one official says.

For inmates, this means a strict schedule — with education at its core. Industrial training, including computer courses, is also held.

“They wake up around 6 am and have to undergo physical training or yoga. After breakfast and bathing, they sit for educational classes for two hours,” the official says, while another staffer adds: “Based on the educational qualification of the inmates, an education plan is drawn.”

Of the five young men at the school, one is pursuing his MA in Social Sciences, while another is in his second year of college, both through distance learning. The three others are in Classes 10 and 12.

“Unlike a jail, where there are other gangs looking to recruit youngsters, the borstal school attempts to give them a second chance and a follow-up aftercare programme, where counsellors keep in touch after release,” one official says.

At a 2015 consultation by the Centre of Criminology and Justice, TISS, and the Maharashtra State Judicial Academy, the legality of sending juveniles to borstal schools was discussed. While some believed it wasn’t permitted, others argued it could be included as a ‘place of safety’ — a designated secure facility for those between 16 and 18 accused or convicted of heinous offences — in the JJ Act. A circular was issued to identify young offenders in jail to send them to the borstal school, but found no takers.

Mukundan of TISS believes the law’s relative anonymity was part of its present state. “The law, when it existed, was not known at all, not taught in law schools. Even though the young population in jails could have benefited from it, it was not used,” she says.

For the Nashik school, all this means uncertainty. But many also believe it did what it had set out to do.

“We cannot say that the institution was perfect, but we saw many turn a new leaf. As the number was low, we tried to come up with a personalised education and vocation plan. We feel happy that many did not return to crime and actually received a second chance,” says the former Nashik borstal school principal.