COVID-19: 3,000 inmates released from West Bengal jails
The department of correctional services has also takenseveral measures to check coronavirus infection inside thejails of the state.
The official said there are around 60 correctionalhomes in West Bengal, housing nearly 25,000 inmates and ofthem, close to 7,000 are convicts while others areundertrials.
"So far, more than 3,000 inmates have been grantedbail or parole. Out of whom, around 2,000 are under trialprisoners and the remaining are convicts. We have taken othermeasures such as ensuring that the inmates use protectivegears and maintain social distancing norms in correctionalhomes," the senior jail official said.
Earlier, the department also disallowed prison visitsby family members.
"This decision of not allowing family members to meetthe inmates has helped a lot in containing the situation.Initially, the prisoners had protested against this decision,but later they accepted it," Correctional Services MinisterUjjal Biswas said.
The decision had even led to clashes between inmatesand guards at a jail in Kolkata in March, where prisonerspelted stones and set prison properties on fire.
The Calcutta High Court on March 24 formed a three-member panel to examine the situation in all correctionalhomes of West Bengal and prepare a report on the number ofinmates who could be granted bail or parole to avoid crowdingin jails, in view of the Covid-19 outbreak.
The department then prepared a list of inmateseligible for parole and bail and forwarded it to the court.
Inmates were released following the guideline laiddown by the court, the official said.
The high court took up the issue suo motu following aSupreme Court direction, asking all state governments andUnion territories to set up high-level committees to determinethe class of prisoners who could be released on parole forfour to six weeks.
The apex court had said prisoners convicted of orcharged with offences having prison terms up to seven yearscan be given parole to decongest the jails.
According to the website of the West BengalCorrectional Services department, the state has six centralcorrectional homes, 12 district correctional homes, threespecial correctional homes, two women's correctional homes,one open-air correctional home, and 33 subsidiary correctionalhomes.
The combined registered capacity of these facilitiesis 20,802 including 1,637 females. PNTNN NN