‘Only 273 availed funds for poor prisoners in 2 yrs’
NEW DELHI: Despite repeated reminders following a revised guidelines for supporting poor prisoners lodged in jails, in the past two and half years since the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) the scheme for them, only 273 jail-mates received assistance under it with 20 of 36 states and Union Territories (UTs) failed to spend even a single penny on this count and benefitted none.
However, 107 prisoners received support in Maharashtra with the state government spending over Rs 18.68 lakh. Madhya Pradesh followed with an expenditure of a little over Rs 9.93 lakh benefitting 38 prisoners, and Uttrakhand with an expenditure of nearly Rs 7.76 lakh benefitting 37 inmates, according to official government data.
The scheme was launched in 2023, providing cash bail of up to `40,000 and penalty payment of up to Rs 25,000 for each undertrail prisoner to reduce overcrowding of prisons, officials in the MHA said.
According to the latest MHA data, 20 states and UTs reported zero expenditure on this count helping none. The states and UTs, where less than 10 undertrial prisoners were provided support include Odisha (9), Tripura (7), Arunachal Pradesh (6), Goa (5), Punjab (3), Kerala (2) and one each in Chandigarh, Rajasthan and Sikkim.
Among the states, barring Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Uttrakhand, Assam reported supporting 28 such prisoners with an expenditure of Rs 6.67 lakh and Telangana helping 18 jail inmates spending Rs 2.46 lakh.
According to officials in the MHA the guidelines for implementation of the scheme were shared with all states and union territories on 19 June, 2023 and an annual financial outlay of Rs 20 crore provided for financial years 2024-25and 2025-26.The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) was designated as the central nodal agency for implementation of the scheme.
According to the consolidated MHA data on the expenditure made under this head, the states and the UTs could spend only a little over Rs 71.71 lakh with Maharashtra taking the lead with Rs 18.68 lakh.
The officials in the MHA claimed that the ministry has periodically reviewed the progress of the scheme. It has also asked them to raise awareness about the scheme and ensure that meetings of “empowered committees” are held to maximise coverage under it.