Reformation of Prisoners

Contact with Outside World

To maintain link with the outside world, the prisoners are permitted to have their interviews with family members, relatives, friends and lawyers on any working day. No interviews are permitted during holidays including Sunday. It is also proposed to provide video conferencing facility in each jail for the benefit of prisoners so as to enable them connect through video conferencing to their relatives, friends and lawyers.

Grievance Redressal

1. Complaint box has been installed in each District Jail so as to enable the jail inmates to submit their complaints and ventilate grievances, if any. They are also allowed to address their complaints to the DG Prisons for redressal of their grievances.
2. Visit of official and non- official visitors to jails.
3. Visit by District and Session Judge.
4. Visit by District Magistrates/Addl. District Magistrate/Chief Judicial Magistrate, etc.
5. Petitions to trial courts – Prisoners can submit petition about their grievances, etc. to their respective trial courts.
6. UTP Review Committee.
7. Visit by other Commissions/Committees.

Legal Services

Free legal Aid is being provided to the undertrial prisoners who are entitled to the same. Jail Adalats and Camp Court trials are being held in the jails periodically by the concerned Magistrates for quick disposal of compoundable offences and petty cases.

Medical Care

Medical care facilities are being made available to the prisoners in the Jail Hospital. Full time senior Medical and Health Officer is looking after the jail hospital located within the main enclosure of the jail. He is assisted by a pharmacist and the medical attendants.
The jail hospitals cater to patients with general ailments only. Patients requiring specialist attention and for detailed examinations are referred to Civil Hospital, or other Government hospitals, etc.

Counselling and Moral Education

Counselling and Moral education based programmes are being conducted regularly at the four District Jails by different N.G.Os and members of church bodies for spiritual purposes. Awareness programmes are also being conducted inside the jail in all the District jails on HIV/AIDS, drug addiction and alcoholism

Recreation, Sports and Educational Facilities

Daily local and national Newspapers in Khasi, Garo and English are provided to the inmates. Besides books are being procured for setting up libraries in the jail for benefit of jail inmates.
Colour television sets have been provided in wards of the jails. Musical instruments like guitars are also provided to the prisoners.

Facility has been provided to jail inmates for playing cricket, football and valley-ball. Facilities for indoor games like carrom board, chess, ludos, spell craft, playing cards, etc have also been provided to them.

Keeping in view the importance of education and for proper rehabilitation of prisoners after their release, the illiterate inmates lodged in the District Jails are being provided with elementary education. The educated prisoners who want to pursue higher studies are being given guidance regarding pursuing different courses with IGNOU and NIOS.

Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), Shillong, had set up a Study Centre at the District Jail, Shillong in the year 2003. 2 (two) prisoners availed of the facility in July, 2003 session for registering themselves in B.A. and Post Graduate Diploma Course in Mass Media and Journalism. One convict, appeared in the Post Graduate Diploma Examination in Mass Media and Journalism in December, 2005, in the Jail premises. The efforts on or to encourage the inmates to register for higher education.

Library

Prison library is proposed to be set up within the premises of each jail with adequate collection of books, periodicals to be utilized by the jail inmates for which sanction has been received from the Government recently.  National and local newspapers in English language and the vernacular languages are being provided and circulated among the inmates.

Vocational Training

The four District jails of the State have Craft and Carpentry Instructors for imparting vocational training to the prisoners. At present, the inmates are imparted vocational training in different trades like carpentry works and cane & bamboo work.

In the year 2005, a city based NGO, namely, Women Integrated Sustainable Empowerment (WISE) located in St. Mary’s College, Shillong conducted a course for the women inmates lodged inside the District Jail, Shillong, in the following vocational trades:

1. Cane and bamboo works
2. Making of candles (Different fancy items)
3. Fast food preparation
4. Knitting and embroidery
5. Tailoring
6. Food processing (Jam, pickles, squash, tomato catch up, lemon and ginger syrup etc.)

Wages

The Government of Meghalaya has fixed minimum wages for convict labourers at the following rates which have also been made applicable to the UTP labourers:-