Correction of an individual who had committed a crime and send him back to the very same society

One of the prime objectives of the Prison system, which is part of the Criminal Justice System of the country, is the correction of an individual who had committed a crime and sending him back to the very same society. Even after long 65 years of Independence, the prisons and correctional system in India have not changed much to achieve this objective. Because there are not many substantial amendments to the prime legislations in the field, mainly in the Prisons Act 1894 and Probation of Offenders Act 1958.

There are daily reports from newspapers regarding human rights violations in various prisons in India. Gandhiji suggested the enactment of a new Prisons Act to better suit the objective of correction. Until then, prison officers will be helpless to change the atmosphere of prisons as they have to act according to existing law.

Prisons need change in order to prevent thousands of simple offenders from becoming hardened due to the treatment received within the prisons. Here, the observations and suggestions of Gandhiji on prison conditions and prison reforms become relevant, as they provide insight into what is happening within the prison walls and the need and ways of change in a positive manner, in the larger interest of society, as each individual has a right to a dignified existence.

It is interesting to find that Mahatma Gandhi fought earnestly by giving petitions, fasting within and outside prisons, whenever violations of human rights came to his notice, relating to himself or to other prisoners in the prisons of South Africa or in India.