New Delhi, Dec 15 (IANS) To tackle overcrowding in jails in the national capital, a Delhi legislative assembly committee has asked the state government to prepare a long term plan to get rid of the problem completely by 2020.
The recommendation was made in the report of the Public Accounts Committees (PAC) on ‘Functioning of Prison Department and Management of Jails in Delhi’. The report was tabled in the assembly Tuesday.

The committee recommended to the prison department of the Delhi government to prepare a short term plan to tackle overcrowding in jails to a large extent by the end of 2010 and a long term plan to completely end it by 2020.

“The problem of overcrowding continues unabated, mainly because of delays in creating additional space by way of constructing new jails. The department must accord top priority to the construction of new prisons and other infrastructural improvements,” the committee said in its report.

“The solutions to the problem of overcrowding have to be found through examination of our penal laws, criminal procedures, bail laws and alternative sentencing. The overuse of pre-trial detention, lengthy and strict sentencing practices contributes to prison overcrowding,” it added.

“As such, the pre-trial detention shall be used as a means of last resort in criminal proceedings. Alternatives to pre-trial detention shall be employed at the earliest possible stage and the detention shall last no longer than necessary. Apart from this, certain offences should be decriminalized and alternatives to imprisonment should be designed to deal with such cases,” the report added.

It recommended setting up of a mechanism for the periodic review of cases of undertrial prisoners.

“The government should give top priority to fill up the vacancies of prison department and periodically review the progress of the recruitment process to prevent any undue delay,” the committee said.

It concluded that several steps have been taken to improve the conditions of prisons, but much more is required to be done.