Video conferencing in state’s 20 jails by end of the month

This will help cut cost of transport from prison to court and of acute security measures

Video conferencing in state's 20 jails by end of the month

This will help cut cost of transport from prison to court and of acute security measures

The exercise of making our prisons more secure after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks continues. A high-tech video conferencing facility is being introduced in 20 prisons and district jails in the state.

Considering that several terrorists under-trials are awaiting legal action, Uddhav Kamble, inspector general, State Prison Department, told MiD DAY that this new system will be useful for making the judiciary work better. "It will also save the cost of transport and cut down acute security measures that we have to undertake to present them at court," he said.u00a0

Tenders out

So far, on a hire-basis, video-conferencing facility was commissioned in Pune, Mumbai, Thane, Nashik and Nagpur from July 12, 2007. Through BSNL now, this facility will branch out to 15 more jails and prisons, said Kamble.

"Technical tenders for this purpose had already been opened and we are waiting for the formal opening of commercial tenders for the same," he said. This pilot project is mainly designed for the western circle of the state at 40 locations. "So far, we have spent Rs 21.05 lakh on this project, Kamble said. The new video-conferencing system will be expected to get operational by the end of this month, he informed.

For under-trials

This facility will now be made available at all the nine state prisons at Yerawada, Thane, Kolhapur, Nashik, Chandrapur, Nagpur, Aurangabad, Amravati, Taloja and Arthur Road (Mumbai). The remaining state jails are Akola, Chandrapur, Kalyan, Dhule, Bandra, Bhandara, Yavatmal, Vardha, Usmanabad, Nanded, Jalgaon and Solapur.

Even under the Criminal Procedure Code, witnesses can be deposed during a trial either by being physically present in the court or through video-conferencing.

"This system is presently more useful for the under-trials, who have to be taken to court for getting remand every 15 days," he said. According to Kamble, many jails in the state have a common problem of overcrowding and more than 50 per cent of the prisoners are under-trials.u00a0

In Mumbai first

Video-conferencing system was earlier available in Mumbai's prisons at Arthur Road and Thane, with technical support provided by MTNL. But the cost of video-conferencing was exorbitant and therefore the earlier contract was withdrawn, informed Kamble. "We had about 80 per cent under-trials at Arthur Road prison in Mumbai alone," he pointed out.

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