The Ministry of Home Affairs has amended the prison manual rules to address caste-based discrimination within prisons across the country.
The Ministry has also replaced the existing definition of "habitual offender" to prohibit discrimination and the segregation of prisoners on the basis of caste.
In a communication issued to the Chief Secretaries of all States and UTs, the ministry recalled the Supreme Court of India judgement of October 3, 2024, and in compliance with the directions of the court the ministry has made the changes/additions in the “Model Prison Manual, 2016” and the “Model Prisons and Correctional Services Act, 2023."
To address the issue of any caste-based discrimination of prisoners in the prisons, some additions were made in Chapter V titled ‘Custodial Management’ of the Model Prison Manual, 2016 at Page No. 62, with a new heading ‘Prohibition of caste-based discrimination in Prisons and Correctional Institutions.'
Further the ministry said in the circular: It shall be strictly ensured that there is no discrimination/ classification/ segregation of prisoners on the basis of their caste and It shall be strictly ensured that there is no discrimination of prisoners in allotment of any duty/work in prisons on the basis of their caste.
The circular added that the provisions of ‘The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013’ shall have a binding effect even in Prisons and Correctional Institutions. Manual scavenging or hazardous cleaning of a sewer or a septic tank inside a prison shall not be permitted.
In a landmark verdict on October last year, the Supreme Court ruled that there should not be any caste discrimination in prisons across India. The apex court also stated that all current provisions in the jail manual perpetuating such discrimination must be removed.