JOIN USIn an attempt to make jails in Jammu and Kashmir more secure and hi-tech, the prisons department is mulling introducing mobile jammers in Central and district jails and connecting them to courts via video conferencing.
“We are trying to introduce mobile jammers in the jails, which will render any phone, if sneaked into the prison, non-functional. It can even detect a SIM card and act as a full body scanner,” director general of prisons Naveen Agarwal said on Tuesday.
The DGP said the department was also working on a proposal to set-up a video conferencing facility at all the Central and district jails to facilitate judicial remand and trial of the accused. Agarwal, however, said there was no time limit for implementing the project.
“As far as the proposal goes, there are two-three dimensions to it. One is video conferencing between various jails and prison headquarters.
“The second aspect is the video conferencing facility for jail inmates to converse with their advocates and their relatives and then the third aspect is the video conferencing between the courts and the jails for the trials and judicial remands,” Agarwal said over phone from Srinagar.
He said efforts were on to connect courts with the network so that if an inmate is not able to reach the court on time due to any reason, he can be accessed via video conferencing.
‘Open jails’
In an effort to reintegrate prisoners with society, the department of prisons plans to set up ‘open jails’ in the state.
“If a prisoner is released from jail after a long duration, say after 20 years, the person gets disconnected from his family and society as well. So before he is released, there is a need to reorient him with the world outside,” said Agarwal.
“We are working on the concept of an open jail and we have identified land for t
his,”
Agarwal said.