JAIL VISIT

Our day started at 6:30 am on the July 8, 2017. By this time, we were expected to board the
bus that was to take us to the Yerwada Central Jail, Pune. With one stoppage on the Mumbai-
Pune Highway, we proceeded on our way to the jail. We reached there by 11am. Our visiting
time was fixed from 11am to 3pm. It included the lunch break.

Our bus stopped in the parking area of the Central Jail where we were given instructions to
leave our gadgets and bags in the bus and only take our ID proofs with us inside the jail. We
first went to the main Yerwada Jail where male prisoners are kept.

The jail is fortified by high walls on each side. The outer walls being grey in color give it a
grim look. As we enter the huge gates, we form two lines. The main entry gates have the jail
colors of blue and yellow stripes.

As we enter the main set of huge gates, we are met with a set of male and female jailers. One
set checks each and every person in the line and the other set of jailers take charge of our
group. Then we have to enter another set of gates before we get to see the inside of the jail.

Though the outside of the jail with its tall wall and huge gates makes for one grim picture but
the insides of the jail are another story. The Walls on the inside have been decorated with
graffiti that contains inspirational quotes and drawings done by the prisoners themselves.

We were first guided to the place where the famous Poona Pact was signed between Dr
Ambedkar and Gandhiji in 1932. That area has been conserved and turned into a mini
museum with paper cuttings of that era with the headlines about the Poona Pact. It also
showcases Gandhijis charkha.

Then we were escorted to the kitchen area where the prisoners were preparing that days
lunch for themselves. The kitchen is a long and a narrow area, situated between the entry
gates and the barracks. As we entered the kitchen, we were invited to take a taste test of the
food that the prisoners had just prepared for the day. A small wooden treasure chest shaped
box had a plate inside that contained rotis, daal and vegetable in it. And one by one each of us
had a chance to dig in. The food was quite edible. The ingredients used were of a decent
quality. We took a round of the kitchen where we saw a couple of big machines for preparing
flour dough in good quantity. Then we saw the convicted prisoners standing in a line, either
dicing vegetables or making rotis.
As we came out of the kitchen, we were addressed by the senior jailer. From our interactions
we came to know that the capacity of the jail is only 2,320 but the current number of
prisoners is somewhere about 5,000 which includes both convicts and under-trials. The ratio
of under-trails and convicts is 70 is to 30.

There is a high degree of understaffing in jails. The prisoners are the ones that run the jail.
They have an internal setup which is almost like a hierarchy. The convicts have a dress code
and the under-trials dont have dress code. The dress code includes white overalls with a
yellow or a purple stripe on the sleeve depending on their crime and the punishment awarded
to them by the court. And they have a cap as well. The prisoners with the yellow stripes are
the ones that have been sentenced to life imprisonment. The ones with the purple stripes are
the ones that have also been imprisoned for life but have shown good behaviour for at least 7
to 8 years and have thus been promoted to the post of watchman.

The watchman is the convict who acts as an informer for the jailers and helps them in the
administration of the rest of the prisoners. He basically acts like a middleman between the
jailers and the prisoners. The jailers drew parallels to a watchman being what a class monitor
is in a class.

The under-trails are not made to work mandatorily but have a choice which is not the case
with the convicts. The convicts are made to work for 10 to 12 hours in a day. The areas of
work include preparation of food machine work etc. For this purpose, they are divided into
three groups, namely skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled and paid Rs. 55, 50 and 45
respectively on a daily basis. The rates have been revised recently to these after an
amendment was made to the relevant legislation.

The accumulated money of each prisoner is then sent through money order to each of their
families at the end of the month. A percentage of it goes to the victim fund a separate amount
if at the disposal of the individual prisoner for him to access the jail canteen which also keeps
cigarettes, tobacco etc. The canteen is authorised to sell these products under the jail manual.

After the interaction, we were lined up and taken out of the jail. Our next stop was the
womens jail. Only girls were allowed to visit the jail. Similar procedure followed and we
lined up and entered the womens jail. This jail was as gloomy from the inside as it looked
form the outside. The walls were tall and grey from the inside as well. There was a courtyard
which had barracks, sheds and toilets around it.
The women prisoners wear green or yellow sarees. The prisoners with green sarees are the
ones which have been elevated to the post of watchmen and the yellow saree clad are the
ones under their watch.

On the way to the shed there was a line of 7 to 8 toilets. The surprising part was that toilet
cubicles were only covered with a door that only came up to the waist. When we asked the
senior jailer about this, they reasoned that sometimes, the women would go in and not come
out. So to prevent such a situation, the diminished the size of the doors to half their size so
that the jailers are in the know of what is happening inside the toilets.

We then went to the sheds where the prisoners sat on the floor as some of them made incense
sticks in one room and the others sewed clothes through the sewing machine in the other
room.

We were then to board the bus and were taken to the open jail. The open jail was a stark
contrast to the central jail. The walls were much smaller. There were agricultural lands at the
entrance with crops growing on them. It almost looked like normal village till you caught a
glimpse of a jailer in his uniform.

Convicts with life long jail sentences who show consistent good behaviour are brought here
from the central jail and kept here.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
The main aim of any rational society would be to deliver justice and equity to each and every
individual who comprises to be the part of that society. Legal aid is internationally
recognized as a fundamental human right to ensure that every individual has access to
fairness and impartiality of justice. Legal aid is the award of freedom, to represent oneself in
the way or manner which best interest him.
Legal aid means nothing more than legal representation in court, to that extent that there is a
right to legal aid, although of limited availability. For legal aid in its broadest sense is a
fundamental human right, a right guaranteeing public access not only to legal institutions or
legal representation, but also to legal information, legal advice as well as legal education and
knowledge.
There are issues which need to be addressed such as whether we have been successful in
implementing this technique. The present stratum of the society is completely ignorant to the
proper implementation of legal aid services. For the purpose of the rendering justice we have
formed the concrete base of legal aid but the concerns still arises that whether on the real
ground they are really existing and working.
The prisoner no matter of what category, to the society at large is a dreaded criminal,
whose evil existence is loathed and every act of cruelty thus shown towards a prisoner is
popularly justified. After visiting the prison we thought that this statement stands true
because just by the virtue of being a human being everyone is entitled certain rights, maybe
these rights have to be curtailed but denying these rights even to a hardened criminal is
simply inhuman, there are certain shortcomings that we could identify after visiting the prison
and debating on these issues we could identify that despite the fact that the execution of the
legal aid programme has been yielding great results however these should be significantly
improved. The suggestive measures in this area are:

Exploring ADRs: Utilizing the different types of ADRs like Arbitration, Conciliation,
Negotiation and Mediation in the settling of dispute particularly those including marital
issues can turn out to be a viable legal aid device giving speedy and cheap justice to the
masses. Lok Adalats, a permanent feature of the working of legal services authorities is to a
great extent being utilized as a device of case management to help the overburdened judiciary
and not so much as a instrument of the justice delivery to the litigant. If the `success of the
lok adalat originates from negative reasons owing to the disappointments of the formal legal
system, the utility of this component might likewise be short-lived.
No compromise on Quality: Free legal aid must not be perused to suggest poor or inferior
legal services. The legal counselors in the board ought to be experienced. The law ministry
ought to guarantee the senior lawyers do at least ten cases a year free of charge in the courts.

Inform individuals: Lack of awareness is the fundamental impendent in compelling legal

aid. Efforts ought to be made to inform the general public of the presence of these services
by utilizing electronic media and forceful campaigns.

Sharpening of the judiciary: Consciousness of schemes and projects to have the capacity to
guide the poor litigants in such manner.

Performance appraisal by all legal aid authorities: Where each district legal aid service
authority should be ought to be assessed are not compared with other district legal service
authority inter as well as intra states to encourage legal aid
A reverse osmosis approach should be taken rather than to wait for the poor to come and
approach for legal aid a system with the assistance of NGOs to recognize individuals in need
of such services might be created, all the more so in light of the fact that individuals are
oblivious both of their rights furthermore the availability of legal aid.
In this manner, the legal aid programme, if executed will go far toward large number of our
kinsmen, by advancing social justice and providing them equal access to the law and justice
institutions of the country. The question that whether it is a myth or reality, can be translated
that the vision of the pioneers of legal world is certainly transforming into reality the myth is
only of its implementation which will likewise take a genuine shape once certain minor
changes executed.