State jails will get video-linked

Move will enable convicts’ kin to speak to each other from anywhere in the state

Sayeda Shaikh, 53, living in a dingy hutment in Bandra, barely manages to support her family comprising three school-going children. Sayeda’s husband Abdul, a tailor, sentenced to nine years in a murder case in 2000.

But Sayeda, who barely earns Rs2,000 as a domestic help and stitching clothes, can afford to meet Abdul at the Yerwada prison, where he is lodged, only once
a year, on Eid. “I cannot afford to go to Pune as it means spending half my monthly salary,” she added.

However, times are changing for the better for the likes of Sayeda. For, prisons across the state will now be connected through video-conferencing. The plan will be implemented in five phases, with Yerwada prison at Pune to be connected to Mumbai being the first, said a senior prison official.

Estimated to cost Rs1 crore, the video-linking project will begin in early 2008. Next in line will be prisons in Nashik, Amravati and Auraganbad.

“This project will enable relatives of inmates to hold more frequent meetings with them. It will also help them save money,” said a senior official.

Now, relatives have to fix up an appointment with the prison office, which is given after a fortnight after which they need to travel to the respective jails.

The procedure of meeting a convict  is called mulakat, which lasts for 20 minutes. As per the rules, a convict is allowed to meet his family once every two months.

But owing to distance and the cost involved, many convicts’ relatives cannot see or meet them.

“Apart from travel, relatives also have to spend  on incidental expenses,” said the official. Shaikh said she was thrilled at the new proposal.

“Only a woman going through the experience can understand my feelings,” said Shaikh. “During mulakat, time is up even before I know where to begin,” she added.