Open Peno-Corrections Institutions in India: A Review of Fifty Five years, Experiences and Expectations

Since the last five and a half decades India has also been exhibiting her keen interest in open peno-correctional institutions. This research study endeavors to take a review of working of the open peno-correctional institutions in India and of her experiences gained during the last fifty-five years. The author divides the study into six sections - after introducing the topic, a. the second chapter deals with the concept and conceptual ambiguities of an 'open air prison'. It provides a historical account of these kinds of prisons in India and the different forms in which they appear in practice across the country; b. the third chapter deals with the institutional regime of open air prisons. It first describes the political and social movement which led to the creation of open air prisons in different states. Subsequently, it moves towards describing the present scneario of such institutions, including their elibility criteria/procedure for transferring prisoners from closed prisons to open prisons. It also deals with the operational practices inside these open air prisons, for instance regarding education and recreational activities, vocational training, special priviledges, maintaining discipline, regulating labour and wages; e. the fourth chapter throws light on the role of qualified prison staff for effecient running of open air prisons; f. the fifth chapter engages with the question of what are the parameter of success of open air institutions; and g. finally, the research concludes with highlighting certain expectations/ avenues for improvement in the open air institutions in India.