New State jail manual awaits Cabinet nod

SHILLONG: Meghalaya is in the process of finalising new jail manual to suit the changing needs for jail administration.
An official with the Prisons Department said the need to have the State’s own jail manual was felt as Meghalaya has been following the Assam guidelines for a long time.
The draft Meghalaya jail manual will have to be considered by the Cabinet to make it effective.
Last week, the Ministry of Home Affairs issued an advisory to states and Union Territories on prison reforms.
As per the direction, the nomenclature of the Prisons Department may be changed to ‘Prisons and Correctional Administration’, which should have integrated prison, correctional and probation services.
Another direction of the Centre is that every state should establish a welfare wing under the Prisons Department comprising welfare and law officers, counsellors and probation officers.
“In order to ensure basic uniformity in prison rules and regulations, all States and Union Territories should revise their existing prison manuals by adopting the provisions of the Model Prison Manual, 2016, prepared by the Ministry of Home Affairs and circulated to all States and UTs in May 2016,” the directive said.
The order further said prisons should be linked with courts through video conferencing for expeditious trial and to save costs in escorting under-trials to courts.
“The existing vacancies in all ranks of the Prison Departments should be filled up expeditiously and prison e-system should be integrated with Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) as well as e-courts on priority basis,” the directive said.
Combined training of prison, police, health departments and judiciary on under-trial management should be conducted periodically. Separate training course on de-radicalisation of prisoners should also be conducted, the Centre said.
An official source said Meghalaya will follow these guidelines in the due course of time as there are many constraints, including overcrowding of prisons and delay in the construction of jails in all the districts.