- Wednesday, May 15, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
INDIA has faced a devastating second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic with almost 29 million people getting affected and the death toll nearing 350,000. The country has also struggled to shield its prisons and law-keepers from the spread and with a sizeable population staying behind the bars, the risk of the prisons turning into epicentres of infection remains high. However, one prisoner in Meerut in the North Indian state of Uttar Pradesh has a different take on things. Serving a six-year term in a prison in India’s most populous state, the man identified as Ashish Kumar recently turned down parole in the wake of the second wave because he considers staying in the prisons safer than going out because of the infection. The jail authorities have not disappointed him.
BP Pandey, senior superintendent of the prison, told The Indian Express that Kumar’s request has been approved and will stay inside till his sentence is completed. He said: “We had sent his request to the government for the approval. We have received the nod, which means that Ashish Kumar will remain in the jail till he completes his sentence.”
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India’s Supreme Court ordered prison decongestion
In May, India’s Supreme Court passed an order to decongest the prisons in view of the surge in the Covid-19 cases. It asked for the release of all prisoners who were granted bail or parole last year because of the pandemic. The apex court also kept in mind the fact that some prisoners might not be eager to get released given their social backgrounds and the fear of contracting the virus. It subsequently asked the jail authorities to treat such concerns of the inmates with consideration.
The UP government acted according to the Supreme Court’s observation and 43 convicted inmates kept at Meerut jail were picked to be released on a special eight-week parole. Kumar, a former teacher who was arrested from Ghaziabad, UP, in 2015 on charges of driving his wife to commit suicide, was among them. The other 42 convicted prisoners were released from the Meerut jail besides 326 undertrials.
More prisoners have turned down parole
According to a report carried by the Press Trust of India, 21 inmates in nine prisons across UP have requested the authorities that don’t want parole since they feel staying behind the bars is “safer and healthier” for them in times of the pandemic. Among the inmates who have made such appeals are those from prisons in Ghaziabad, Maharajganj, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Gorakhpur and the state capital of Lucknow, Director General of Jail Administration Anand Kumar said. He said if the inmates get a parole of 90 days, it will get added to the sentence.
“Health check-up is done regularly in jails. They get food on time, they are safe and healthy in jails. The inmates say that once they go out of the jail, they will have to struggle to earn a living,” Kumar told PTI.
The UP government last year released more than 2,200 prisoners when the first wave of the pandemic hit India. This year, too, it has decided to follow a similar pattern by releasing over 2,400 inmates, the Express report added.
