Capital gets its first semi-open jail

New Delhi: Imagine a jail without bars, freedom to walk around a sprawling green campus, and watching television in a regular room with other inmates. For the first time in Delhi, a proper semi-open jail has been opened at the Tihar Prisons campus, and 20 inmates selected for it.
Inaugurated on Tuesday by CM Sheila Dikshit, the selected inmates consist mostly of murder convicts.“This is an excellent concept and I hope this is not just one example but followed by more in Delhi. Along with punishing and rehabilitation of convicts, we also have to secure their future,” Dikshit to TOI.
Each of the selected inmates had to go through a tough selection process. “All of them have shown good behaviour and completed more than 12 years of their jail term. They had to furnish surety of Rs 10,000 that they won’t try to escape,” said Tihar law officer and spokesperson Sunil Gupta.
Consisting only of male inmates so far, Gupta told TOI that they would soon allow female inmates for a separate semi-open jail at the beauty culture centre that was also inaugurated on Tuesday. “The semi-open jail can house up to 100 inmates. We have converted staff quarters into the semi open jail and the inmates can go to work every day at around 6am and come back to their rooms by 7pm. There will be no guards but just a jail official keeping attendance record,” said DG (Prisons) Vimlaa Mehra.
Dressed in navy blue pants and light blue shirts, the selected inmates said that the new jail was a new lease of life for them. “We can actually meet our families like normal people, instead of speaking to them through a glass window. We can telephone them every day and walk around,” said Shadiq, who has spent more than 13 years in jail.
Gopal, who will complete his sentence in another couple of months, said that the jail would help him ease back to regular life. “I am learning how to speak to people afresh. My social skills are returning and I don’t feel under-confident and defensive any more while speaking to customers at the Tihar products store,” he said.
“The convicts will remain within the jail premises but will be released out of their jails in the morning and can work during the day in an open environment. They will be able to do PWD work, horticulture work or work in the Tihar Haat where Tihar products are sold,” explained a senior Tihar official. The convicts selected for the SOJ will be chosen by a committee headed by the DIG, along with the law officer as member secretary and the jail superintendents as members of the committee.