National
Start prison reforms, give inmates voting rights: IGP
Kolkata, Jan 25 (IANS) Senior police officer Roopa D. Moudgil on Thursday said prison reforms should begin immediately in India to stop influential people from getting “VIP treatment” inside the jail.
The IPS officer, who exposed special favours extended to ousted AIADMK leader V.K. Sasikala in a Bengaluru jail during her tenure as the Karnataka DIG Prisons, also called for granting voting rights to prisoners.
“Prisons are supposed to be levellers, but they are not. The influential people get VIP treatment even inside jails when they are not entitled to. I think this is the point from which prison reforms in India have to begin.
“Everyone who commits a crime does not go to jail. Many of them get filtered out if they are able to bribe the policeman or hire a good lawyer. People who land up in prison are generally poor people,” Roopa said at a session titled “Jailhouse Rock” at the Tata Steel Kolkata Literary Meet here.
“So, the environment of inequality that might have made the offenders commit the crime are reinforced in jails. They face the same inequalities and discrimination there. I think this trend should be broken and that should be the point of prison reforms,” said the IPS officer.
She has now been promoted as Inspector General of Police (IGP) and Additional Commandant General – Home Guards and Ex-Officio Additional Director – Civil Defence, Bengaluru.
Referring to her own experience in various cases of influential prisoners, Roopa, who wrote in her report how Sasikala had paid a bribe of Rs. two crore to the prison officials in Bengaluru in exchange for the privileges, said “jail is like hell” for most poor people while for the rich and the influential it does not make a lot of difference to their lifestyle.
She claimed that the general prisoners were neglected as they did not have voting rights. The politicians would start caring about the situation in prisons if the inmates were given the right to vote.
“As soon as they would get included in the vote bank, the prison reform would follow.”
She also said primary medical check-ups and segregation of ailing inmates were often not done in Indian prisons and these aspects should be taken up with much more seriousness and regularity as part of prison reforms.
“One major thing in all the jails is tuberculosis. When someone comes to jail, he is not tested and kept with others, which also increases the chance for others to get infected,” Roopa said.
“So the best way in all the prisons is, the moment someone lands in jail, put him through all the tests including HIV. It serves a two-fold purpose: they can receive an early treatment in case of illness and in case of infectious deceases, they can be kept separate from the rest,” she added.
Echoing Roopa, lawyer and social activist Vrinda Grover said while there were laws and rules to protect prisoners from murder, rape or physical punishments, influential sections in the administration often resisted efforts to implement them.
“There are rules and laws in place but if you are going to invoke any of them, you are going to be at the receiving end. Also, there are still gaps in law. We still do not have any laws against torture in this country,” Grover said.
“In this country, one carries one’s social privileges, as well as his vulnerabilities, marginalisation and discrimination even inside the prison,” she added.
–IANS
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Lucknow: Vishal Singh, a renowned social worker from Lucknow, also known as Foodman, has once again made India proud. He was honored by the Happy Hands Gloves Cooperative Limited Company in Korathai, Thailand, for his work with the Hunger Free World Mission.
The Hunger Free World Mission’s meeting was held in Korathai, Thailand, under Vishal Singh’s leadership. Representatives from several countries, including Mr. Raja Dwivedi (Managing Director of Happy Hands Gloves Limited), Thailand Coordinator Mr. Raja Mishra, and member Mr. Varun Singh, attended the event.
Under Vishal Singh’s leadership, the attendees took a pledge to work together toward creating a hunger-free world.
Speaking on the occasion, Vishal Singh explained that the main goal of the Hunger Free World Mission is social participation. He said the mission is not just about feeding people but also about meeting other basic needs of those who are struggling. The mission focuses on helping families of terminally ill patients in hospitals by providing food and shelter. It also works to fulfill essential needs like education, jobs, and care for the elderly.
For the last 16 years, the Vijay Sri Foundation has been providing free services, benefiting thousands of people. Vishal Singh highlighted that the mission aims to gain global recognition like other organizations such as WHO, WWF, and Red Cross, which work for social causes.
During this meeting, Vishal Singh was appointed as the Chairman of the Hunger Free World Mission by representatives from various countries. They also discussed holding regular meetings in different countries to push the mission forward.
Business tycoon Dr. Abhishek Verma has also supported this humanitarian mission, vowing to promote the idea of “Seva Parmo Dharma” (Service is the highest duty) worldwide. Vishal Singh praised him, stating that people like Dr .Abhishek Verma inspire others to work for the betterment of society.
Recently, Romania’s Ambassador, Mr . Daniela Sezonov Ţane, invited Vishal Singh to the Romanian Embassy in Delhi, where they discussed the mission in detail. Impressed by his humanitarian work, she honored Vishal Singh and invited him to Romania to take the mission forward .
Food man Vishal Singh has been serving the people of India for the past 16 years. Through the Vijay Sri Foundation, he provides free meals to cancer patients & their families ,shelter, and education for women & children along with running free old-age homes in Lucknow.
In addition to his humanitarian work, Vishal Singh also addresses issues like crime and corruption through his role as Chairman of Seva Path Media and Managing Director of Vijay Sri Foundation.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Vishal Singh and his team worked tirelessly to provide food and help to the needy, including starving children, elderly citizens, and pregnant women. Despite contracting the virus himself, he continued to assist others after his recovery. He even created a life-saving oxygen regulator using household items, which was praised by doctors both in India and abroad.
In his address at the meeting, Vishal Singh spoke about his mission to create a hunger-free world. He pointed out that India’s large population, along with issues like unemployment and poverty, has caused the country to fall on the Hunger Index. He urged people to contribute just one handful of grains daily to help create a hunger-free world.
He concluded by saying that through social participation, we can empower the people around us, meet their basic needs, and work together to build a stronger, more prosperous, and developed society.
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