Support for Poor Prisoners Scheme

Table of Contents☰

What’s in today’s article?

Why in News?
Why is the Share of Undertrial Burgeoning in Indian Jails?
What are the Steps taken by the Govt. to Address the Issue of Undertrials?
About the Support for Poor Prisoners Scheme

Why in News?

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has decided to launch a special scheme to provide financial support to poor people who continue to be in jails because they are unable to afford the penalty or the bail amount.
This will enable poor prisoners, the majority of whom belong to socially disadvantaged or marginalised groups with lower education and income level, to get out of prison and decongest prisons.

According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), among the 5,54,034 inmates across India’s prisons (at the end of 2021), 77.1% were under-trials and 22.2% were convicted by a court of law.
According to the World Prison Brief, India currently has the sixth highest share of pre-trial detainees (after Liechtenstein, San Marino, Haiti, Gabon and Bangladesh) in the world.
This large share of the under-trial prison population is not a recent phenomenon, but has persisted for decades now (57.6% in 1975).
India’s justice processes have been infamous for the slow dispensation of cases due to
- The denial of pretrial release to criminal defendants and the excessive duration of criminal proceedings.
- Additionally, the inability of several (poor) inmates to pay for their bail bonds means they end up languishing in prisons even when they could be out.
The COVID-19 pandemic further decelerated judicial processes violating human rights norms and constitute a grievous affront to justice.

What are the Steps taken by the Govt. to Address the Issue of Undertrials?

Insertion of Section 436A in the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC)
Insertion of a new chapter XXIA ‘Plea Bargaining’ in the CrPC
Free legal aid is being provided to poor prisoners through the Legal Services Authority at various levels

About the Support for Poor Prisoners Scheme:

Under the scheme, the Government of India will provide financial support to States in order to extend relief to those poor prisoners who are unable to afford the penalty or the bail amount.
To further strengthen the process, technology driven solutions will be put in place to ensure that benefits reach the poor prisoners –
- Reinforcing the E-prisons platform;
- Strengthening of District Legal Services Authority and
- Sensitisation and capacity building of stakeholders to ensure that quality legal aid is made available to needy poor prisoners

Q1) What is Plea Bargaining?

Plea Bargaining can be defined as the system of negotiating an agreement between the prosecution and defence wherein the defendant pleads guilty to a lesser offence or one or more offences charged in return for a lesser sentence or dismissal of other charges.

Q2) What is the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB)?

NCRB was set-up in 1986 to function as a repository of information on crime and criminals so as to assist the investigators in linking crime to the perpetrators based on the recommendations of the Tandon Committee, National Police Commission (1977-1981) and the MHA’s Task force (1985).