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In what could be the first-of-its-kind policy in the country, Odisha’s Directorate of Prisons has submitted a proposal to the state government for attaching GPS-enabled tracking/monitoring devices on the ankles of undertrial prisoners (UTPs).
UTPs are people who have not undergone the trial of their legal cases. They have only been accused of crimes, and not convicted of them. The Odisha proposal suggests attaching tracking devices to those UTPs who are accused of non-heinous crimes, in order to free them from jail and allow them to lead a normal life. Under the law, heinous crimes are those that have a minimum punishment of imprisonment for seven years under the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The proposal is under consideration and if approved, Odisha will be the first state in the country to implement it.
Why has Odisha proposed this?
According to Director General (Prisons) Manoj Chhabra, the aim of this plan is to decongest overcrowded jails.
In general, overcrowded jails have been a longstanding issue in India. According to the National Crime Records Bureau’s (NCRB) 2021 report on prison statistics, a report published by the Ministry of Home Affairs, from 2019 to 2021, the occupancy rate of prisons went from around 120 per cent to 130 per cent.
Though Odisha does not face the problem of overcrowding in jails to the extent that a few other states do, some major prisons in the state have been overcrowding. Hence, the idea will be implemented on a pilot basis and will be gradually extended to other prisons based on its success.
Odisha has 87 prisons with around 20,000 prisoners, against the sanctioned strength of 23,000. Official sources in the directorate of prisons said around 80 per cent of the inmates in Odisha’s jails are UTPs.
Since cases go on for a long time, the UTPs spend years in jail till the time they are granted bail or convicted by the courts. Many of the UTPs continue to be lodged in jails, even though they were caught in offences having provision of imprisonment of less than seven years.
How will the proposed system work?
According to the proposals, the monitoring devices will be fitted on the ankles of UTPs with his/her consent. This will be on a voluntary basis and the devices will be attached with the approval of the court. The police and jail authorities will be able to track the movement of the UTP after they are freed from jail.
Since these trackers will be temper-proof, if someone tries to interfere or fiddle with the system, an alarm will be raised at the local police station, based on which immediate action is to be taken.
Chhabra said the move would also save costs for the government. Around Rs 1 lakh is currently being spent on each UTP inside the jail, every year. A tracker, which would cost around 10,000 to 15,000, would be cost-effective, he said.
Also, once freed from jail, the UTP can then earn a livelihood. The DG described this as a “win-win situation” for both the government and the UTPs.
Concerns over violation of human rights
However, human rights activists have raised concerns over a possible breach of privacy and the legal ramifications of the proposed system.
Chhabra claimed that the move would free the UTPs instead of confining them within the jails. He added that countries like the USA and the UK have already implemented a system of fixing the monitoring devices on convicted prisoners.
