enacted the West Bengal Correctional Services Act 1992, which became operational from the year 2000, the implementation has been slow. The existing Jail Code needs to be amended to bring it in conformity with the new Act.

A massive exercise was undertaken to reframe the Rules under the new Act. Best practices from all States have been taken into account while framing the Rules, which are being submitted to the Government. He further stated that the new Act endows a number of rights on all inmates of correctional homes. Proper living conditions, access to law, communication with family and lawyers & protection against unlawful labour are some of them as enlisted under Chapter XXV of the Act. Further, the Act states that all fundamental rights as mentioned under Chapter III of the Indian Constitution accrue to all inmates in so far as they do not become incapable of enjoyment as an incidence of confinement. The new Act also renders the right to vote to inmates, which unfortunately can not be implemented as the Representation of Peoples Act still forbids it. It is an irony that an under-trial prisoner can stand in elections but can not vote in this country. In his opinion, under-trial prisoners must not be denied this right.

Concluding his address he stated that though there has traditionally been neglect of prisons, the funds for modernization are now flowing. What is now required is a change in the mindset of prison staff as the current practice is to do little for the welfare of prisoners. One must always remember that “it is not a favour to help prisoners, but it is only their right that we protect. Thus, one must not go home and boast about the sympathetic favors to prisoners, but should think of protection and assurance of prisoners’ rights as part of their official duty.”

After the inaugural address, Ms. Maja Daruwala, Director, Commonwealth Human Right Initiative intervened and enquired as to ‘why we are not proactive? Does the current system encourage or discourage one from being proactive? Going further she then postulated as to ‘why we talk only of GO-NGO partnerships? With regard to the prison setup it should be a good idea to advocate for a prisoner-prison staff partnership as well. Having said that, she completed the round of introductions and called upon Sri Dibyendu Sarkar, Officer on Special Duty & the ex-officio Deputy Secretary, Department of Jails to give a brief introduction on the prison/correctional home setup in the state of West Bengal. Sri Sarkar briefly described the departmental setup in the State of West Bengal. There is a Department of Jails, a Prisons Directorate which is also the Inspectorate of Correctional Services. He informed about the change of nomenclature adopted in the State wherein, jails are now termed as ‘correctional homes’ and prisoners as ‘inmates’. Regarding overcrowding, Sri Dibyendu sarkar, OSD informed that against a capacity of 20474 inmates, the actual number of inmates as of June 2009 was 18899. However, this does not mean that there is no overcrowding. Overcrowding is there at individual levels, for instance in some sub-correctional homes the available capacity is 150, but inmate population is 500. Thus, steps have to be taken to reduce this.

Sri Dibyendu Sarkar, OSD further expressed his views on the issue of imprisonment and law. He rightly mentioned that the criminal justice system is a tri-pod comprising the police, judiciary and correctional services. Though the correctional services are at present weakest of the rest, at least we are now visible. He suggested that in future there should be more consultations with all the three groups and not only the members of correctional homes. He asserted the importance of coordination between the three legs of the tripod. He quoted Bangladesh’s prison motto “will keep them safe and show them light” as the guiding beacon for correctional services. Reaffirming prisoners’ rights he stated that inmates should have proper medical facilities, clean potable water, appropriate living space, hygienic toilet facilities and adequate opportunities to maintain contact with family and friends.

Sri Sarkar raised an interesting issue i.e. the complex situation of inmates sentenced to simple imprisonment. Under the present setup, inmates sentenced to rigorous imprisonment must work and are paid wages accordingly. However, this is unfair for inmates sentenced to simple imprisonment as they do not have the opportunity to earn while in a correctional