openprisonvoices

openprisonvoices This page brings to you the unheard voices from the open prisons of Rajasthan. The page is curated

A phone call can be a lifeline. But what happens when that line is cut?West Bengal’s recent prison phone restrictions fo...
25/09/2026

A phone call can be a lifeline. But what happens when that line is cut?

West Bengal’s recent prison phone restrictions for prisoners in certain security-related cases have brought a familiar tension into focus:security on one side, communication on the other.
For prisoners, phone access can mean staying connected with family and lawyers. For prisons, controlling communication is also a security concern.
The real conversation lies in finding the balance and ensuring that necessary communication doesn’t disappear behind prison walls.

The Model Prison Manual sets the standard. The data reveals the distance.For women in prison, access to appropriate heal...
22/09/2026

The Model Prison Manual sets the standard. The data reveals the distance.

For women in prison, access to appropriate healthcare is not a luxury. Yet the India Justice Report 2025 found a striking shortage of female prison doctors, with 19 States/UTs reporting none in 2022.

When policy recognises women’s specific healthcare needs, the real test is whether the system has the people and infrastructure to meet them.

A right on paper becomes meaningful only when it reaches the prison ward.

A prison sentence restricts liberty, not the right to dignity, bodily autonomy and lawful reproductive healthcare.In its...
18/09/2026

A prison sentence restricts liberty, not the right to dignity, bodily autonomy and lawful reproductive healthcare.

In its 2016 judgment, the Bombay High Court addressed the experiences of pregnant undertrial prisoners seeking medical termination of pregnancy and made an important point: incarceration cannot create a separate category of reproductive rights.

It also exposed how delays, procedural hurdles and gaps in prison healthcare can turn a legal right into an inaccessible one.

The judgment therefore went beyond individual cases, laying down safeguards for information, informed choice, urgent referral and continuity of care for pregnant women prisoners because reproductive healthcare does not stop at the prison gate.

Source: High Court on its Own Motion v. State of Maharashtra, Suo Motu PIL No. 1 of 2016, Bombay High Court, 19 September 2016.

What if the first thing you need after entering prison is simply a way to tell your family: “I’m here”?The Model Prison ...
16/09/2026

What if the first thing you need after entering prison is simply a way to tell your family: “I’m here”?
The Model Prison Manual, 2016 says that a newly admitted prisoner should have the option to inform their family of their committal immediately after admission.
And there’s a practical provision too: a postcard or inland letter should be provided for this purpose.

It’s a small detail, but it carries a much bigger idea.
Because behind every prison admission is a person whose family may be waiting, worried and searching for answers.
Prison may take away liberty. It shouldn’t unnecessarily take away the first message home.

A prison takes away a person’s liberty, but should it also erase their individuality?The Model Prison Manual, 2016, reco...
09/09/2026

A prison takes away a person’s liberty, but should it also erase their individuality?

The Model Prison Manual, 2016, recognises that prisoners remain individuals with personal needs, identities, and circumstances. Rehabilitation cannot follow a one-size-fits-all approach; it must consider the person behind the offence.

Because correction is not only about confinement. It is also about recognising dignity, responsibility, and the possibility of change.

"Five years in prison. Still waiting for trial.On 31 August 2026, the Bombay High Court granted bail to 25-year-old Shub...
08/09/2026

"Five years in prison. Still waiting for trial.

On 31 August 2026, the Bombay High Court granted bail to 25-year-old Shubham Balasaheb Takale, who had spent five years and three months in custody as an undertrial in a 2018 murder case.
The trial had examined only 3 of approximately 35 witnesses.
The court referred to the right to a speedy trial under Article 21 and observed that prolonged incarceration can have a damaging effect on young accused persons.
Pre-trial detention is not meant to become punishment before conviction.
This case raises an important concern: when justice is delayed for years, the consequences of imprisonment can extend far beyond the legal process.
Justice requires more than a final verdict. It also requires a timely trial.

Source:Indian Express, “Prison turns young accused criminal, not reformed: Bombay High Court grants bail,” 3 September 2026.
"

Can prison design change the experience of imprisonment?Inside Pennsylvania’s SCI Chester, conventional housing exists a...
05/09/2026

Can prison design change the experience of imprisonment?

Inside Pennsylvania’s SCI Chester, conventional housing exists alongside an experimental unit called Little Scandinavia.

The contrast is striking: 128 prisoners per correctional officer in the general population unit, compared with 64 residents supported by three staff members in Little Scandinavia.

With shared kitchens, personalised rooms, green spaces and opportunities to cook and shop, the unit aims to move residents beyond survival mode and towards rehabilitation.

The model is still being studied, but it offers an important reminder:

Prison design can shape safety, relationships, staff well-being and the possibility of change.

A prison is a closed institution. That makes independent oversight essential.The Model Prison Manual 2016 provides for a...
02/09/2026

A prison is a closed institution. That makes independent oversight essential.
The Model Prison Manual 2016 provides for a Board of Visitors, a multi-disciplinary body that can inspect prison conditions, examine prisoners’ grievances, and look into areas such as healthcare, food, sanitation, education, vocational training and correctional work.
It also provides for regular visits, including at least one visit every quarter.
But the India Justice Report 2025 points to a significant implementation gap: against 3,100 visits that would be required annually across 775 districts, only 899 visits were reported. In 18 large and mid-sized states, just 34% of possible visits took place, while 10 States/UTs reported no visits.
Oversight is meaningful only when it reaches beyond the rulebook and through the prison gates.

Sources: Model Prison Manual 2016, Ministry of Home Affairs; India Justice Report 2025.

You enter prison with a sentence. But you also enter a system of records.From a prisoner’s History Ticket to their broad...
01/09/2026

You enter prison with a sentence. But you also enter a system of records.

From a prisoner’s History Ticket to their broader Case History, the prison record can document far more than the offence itself, covering aspects such as conduct, health, education, family background, employment and rehabilitation.

These records form part of the administrative machinery through which a prison understands and manages a prisoner during their period of confinement.

But behind every record is a person and every record carries a responsibility: to be accurate, necessary and handled with care.

Source:Model Prison Manual, 2016, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India.

What if a prison had fewer walls and more responsibility?Across the world, open and low-security prisons are challenging...
26/08/2026

What if a prison had fewer walls and more responsibility?
Across the world, open and low-security prisons are challenging the traditional idea of incarceration.

From India’s wall-less open-air camps, where family life, work and self-reliance form part of rehabilitation, to Norway’s lower-security prisons, where greater autonomy and gradual progression towards release reflect the principle of normalisation, both models explore a common question:
Can greater responsibility better prepare a person for life after prison?

This carousel looks at what India and Norway can teach us about open prisons, rehabilitation and reintegration.

Sources:
• Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India -Model Prison Manual, 2016
• Rajasthan Prison Department - "Open Air Camps".
• Government of Norway - Act relating to the Ex*****on of Sentences.
• Government of Norway - Report No. 37 (2007–2008): Punishment that Works – Less Crime – A Safer Society

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