The Haryana prisons department has gone entirely digital with jails across the state set to rely on software - designed by a team of inmates led by software engineer Satender, who is facing a dowry death case — to implement the change. As a result, inmates’ trial dates, financial transactions inside the jails, their medical history and criminal track records can now be tracked by police online. The project was officially launched by K K Mishra, Additional Director General of Prisons, Haryana, at the Karnal district jail on Wednesday. The software, Digital Management System, was being prepared by the jail inmates, led by Satender, in Gurgaon over the last year. Satender had been a computer project manager before he was arrested in a dowry death case and is lodged in jail with his family members. While he was initially incarcerated in a Gurgaon jail, he is presently lodged in Karnal. The inmates had started it as a pilot project in the Gurgaon jail a few months ago but when the software was brought to the notice of senior officers of the Haryana prisons department, they encouraged the inmates to extend it and provided them with adequate hardware support. There are 19 jails in Haryana: three central and 16 district jails. Another encouraging aspect of the project is that the prisons department did not take any financial support from the state government for the project. Additional DGP K K Mishra explains, “It cost about Rs 4-5 lakh for the hardware equipment per jail. We did not claim any funds from the state government but in fact, the entire project cost was borne out of funds collected from the profits of canteen sales in all the jails of Haryana. The novel concept was introduced by the inmates and the prison staff provided them all the necessary support. As far as we know, we are the first in the country to have introduced such a system”. At the launch, Satender and his team of fellow inmates gave a presentation in the Karnal jail on Tuesday. Providing details on the project, Mishra said, “Through this digitalisation, the generations old coupon system that prevails since British times in Indian jails has come to an end. There would not be any coupons for any inmates now. The coupon system was a major source of corruption inside jails. Through this digitalisation, we have installed biometric machines in every jail. The finger prints of all the undertrials and convicts were collected. Whenever an inmate’s relative comes to see him, he/she can deposit an amount of money in the inmate’s name. The balance is reflected in the computer. The inmate goes to the canteen, makes a purchase, uses the biometric machine and the amount shall be deducted from his account. The balance can be checked at any time”. Besides the financial management inside the jails, the software also keeps a track of all the inmates’ criminal track record, the trials they are facing, their court appearance schedules, among others. “For instance, there had been instances where criminals connive with jail doctors and get hospitalised. Through this software, we shall be able to know the entire medical history of the inmate. It will also show the number of times an inmate has been hospitalised and for what ailment. A specialised trained staff have been put on the job in each and every jail across the state,” Mishra told The Indian Express.
