Prisoners are twice as likely to die by suicide. Existing laws do little to help them

The Ministry of Home Affairs issued an advisory to all States and UTs in June 2021 concerning the measures to be adopted to address mental health issues of prisoners, especially during the COVID time. Some of the suggested measures include - creation of mental health review boards, telepsychiarty video consultations, and use of video-conferencing facilities to connect prisoners with their families. This piece comments on these measures suggested by the advisory.