RASHMI REKHA DAS, OP
Incarceration means a direct abnegation of the concept of free life, but prisoners serving sentences in open-air jails don’t harbour bleak and cynical attitudes towards life
Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future
– Oscar Wilde
This quote states that everyone who has been declared a saint was, at one time, something less than saintly. A saint was once a normal person like the rest of us, that no one is born into sainthood. It also states the same thing, in reverse, saying that everyone who is now a sinner has an opportunity to become a better person.
Yes, every person who commits a crime is deemed to punishment but this does not mean that he needs to repay it with his life. And thus he should be given a second chance for a better living and an opportunity to build a life of honour and respect.
Regardless of the crime a man/woman may commit, he/she is still a human being, has urges and inclinations, hopes and aspirations as any other human being. If the prisoners are given certain freedoms and liberty, they would respond favourably and would not betray the confidence displayed on them, says the study of criminology. Thus many recommendations were made by various committees in order to lift the insufferable conditions to a well refined prison administration. And as a result the concept of open-air jail under the jail came into being. In Orissa, the Jamujhari-based Biju Patnaik open-air jail works with the objective of helping the inmates in becoming better persons, disciplined, attentive, aware and responsible towards the society they live in and also towards the world at large. Sunday Post visits the jail to find whether it is changing the lives of prisoners.
Today, there are numerous open-prison institutions in the world and Biju Patnaik open-air jail is one of them that aims at bringing the non-conformists into line so that they are able to join the mainstream of society after their release from prison.
Set up in the year 2003 under jail reform programme, the correctional home at Jamujhari under Chandaka tehsil of Khurda district is about 25 kilometre away from the state capital. Spread over a sprawling 111 acre, the prison offers ample liberty and a host of other benefits to around 75 inmates. In 2005, the jail was converted into an ashram. It imparts training to inmates on various profitable trades like weaving and dyeing, manufacture of woolen carpet and cotton durry, incense sticks and moulded khali leafs. The jail inmates are also trained in making fly ash brick, managing dairy firm, operation of dal processing unit and vegetable farming.
The open-air correctional home is an open jail in the real sense of the term as the prisoners enjoy complete freedom of movement, as there is no day lock up system. Interesting feature about the jail-ashram is that the inmates in the prison-cum-ashram are not identified with the numbers as in normal jails, but by their names. Besides, what distinguishes it from other jail is that the prisoners reside in dormitories instead of cells.
Murder convicts those who have been awarded life imprisonment and have already served 2/3rd of their sentence and have maintained all along a good jail record are eligible for transfer to the correctional home where they enjoy an unrestricted life. The inmates are also allowed to move out of the jail for a short while everyday. At present it has a capacity for 125 but 77 inmates are residing there. Once a year, the inmates are also allowed to visit their homes and spend holiday with family and community. The jail inmates earn a daily wage of Rs 40.
Apart from medicinal plants, the jail is farming organic vegetables like tomato, brinjal, lady fingers, cucumber, bottle gourd, snake gourd, beans and fruits like varieties of mangoes and papaya. Let’s take the views of jail inmates whether the open-air jail concept has come as boon for them.
What they say
Srikant Tarai, who shifted to open-air jail from Baripada circle jail in September 2016, says “I was sent to Baripada circle jail in the year 2002. The previous jail was hell for me. After being brought to this jail, I discovered my lost life. We are being given a second life, a second chance to live. I am happy that I am being able to earn a few rupees. It opens opportunities for self-development and resocialization. I am assigned to do office maintenance work here. I enjoy my work and hope to get back to my family soon and solemnize my daughter’s marriage.”
Bishnumohan Behera, who was once a farmer says, “When I was lodged in Bhadrak jail I almost got disconnected from all family and friends. I felt like the time is moving like hella slow until I became institutionalized. Besides, the feeling of helplessness and hopelessness was there. One thing I regret that I am undergoing jail term for the crime which I had not done at all. I was wrongly trapped into the case thanks to some unscrupulous elements. After I was shifted to this jail, I felt as if I got second lease of life.”
“Though I am leading a good life here, but I am missing my family badly. My body is present but soul is not, ”says Behera who is in jail for last 16 years.
Askar Khan of Kendrapara, another prisoner, says “I was feeling total loss of control when I was first imprisoned. I was totally clueless about what was happening in and around me. It made me feel totally helpless. The initial days at Choudwar jail was difficult for me cope with the environment. After some time I stopped experiencing the feelings I initially experienced when I got in. Here, I am really enjoying my work. I get to meet people. I am earning some money and would like other prisoners like me to get the same kind of opportunity. I am assigned to manufacture compost. Here we are free to move around.”
Rasabihari Maharana who was brought from Jajpur jail to the open-air ashram in 2012 says” I am undergoing imprisonment for killing a little girl. But my God knows the truth. I cannot be so ruthless to kill a girl especially a kid. I am a religious kind of man who cannot even think of crime. I am really thankful to God that he gives me a second life at Jamujhari. When I was in Jajpur jail, I was feeling very lonely and exhausted. But I saw a ray of hope after being shifted to the open-air jail. Here I am working as a gardener. What I love about the institution is we all get time to remember the Almighty and offer prayer in the evening everyday. It’s like hostel and I enjoy the tranquil atmosphere here.”
Seconding Maharana, Nanda Chetly says, “ I was kept like a captive at Koraput jail. Here I am enjoying my life as a free bird. I got severely depressed especially after losing hope of getting out fast. I was searching for ways to end depression. And Biju Patnaik open-air jail came as a blessing for me. I am away from my family and am feeling too bad about it. The behavior and treatment of the jail staff and authorities are so good that I sometimes feel they are our really family members.”
Bali Gouda says, “To err is human being. I had done a mistake for which I am repenting and will repent forever. I was feeling confused in the initial phase of my imprisonment as I did not know what was going on. The verdict led to the feeling of being lost. However, the open-air jail came to my rescue. It helped me coming over the depression and give me a reason to lead my life.”
Prasad Baria, Dasaratha Paharia and Krushna Behera are among the fellow jail inmates who expressed their gratefulness to the state government for giving them a second chance to lead a life with dignity. “We are treated well by the jail authorities. They never let us feel that we are criminals. But things were different in the jails we spent almost 10 years of imprisonment. We were treated very badly there. It’s like being buried alive while others said it’s like being in hell. Here, we are engaged in agriculture-based activities and other vocations.”
What people say about it
Assistant jailor Laxmidhar Murmu says “Open-air prisons offer a state of semi-detention. It is meant to be a transitional phase before the prisoners are released. It is a halfway home, with the emphasis on doing away with the social stigma usually attached to a criminal past. The inmates here respect the fact that they have been trusted enough to be kept in a round-the-clock vigilance-free environment. Inmates are not made to work on Sundays because Sunday is a holiday here. After all they are human being and they have all the rights to have fun.”
Assistant jailor Rashmiprava Ray says, “Generally, convicts who have served at least seven years are sent to open-air correctional homes, provided they have a good track record. Usually, the inmates work as daily-wage agricultural labourers or sell vegetables they grow on the jail premises. Not only they work, they celebrate festivities with fanfare.”
Krushna Chandra Mohanty, Orissa High Court advocate says, “The utilization of open prisons or correctional homes during post-independence era has been most spectacular, and elicited much interest among penologists because of the realization that a substantial proportion of prison inmates do not need retention in guarded prison enclosure. Engaging inmates of open air prisons in productive work keeps them physically and mentally fit. Open prisons also offer opportunities for self-improvement and resocialisation to the inmates. Moreover, shifting of prisoners from general prison to an open prison helps in conservation of natural resources and widens the scope of rehabilitative process.”
Tanmay Mohanty, advocate of Orissa High Court and district sessions court, Khurda. “The open jail institutions proved to be quite useful and showed much positive results. All the inmates regardless of cast, creed and colour live like a family. It never witnesses violence. Inmates in open prisons exhibit more positive self-esteem and positive attitude towards co-inmates than those in closed prisons. No jail feeling is found among the inmates. Most importantly, they being imparted various training which help them earn and join the mainstream of the society after their release.”
Namrata Chaddha, a member of Juvenile Justice Board says “Open-air jail concept is very close to my heart. During my childhood, I had seen a movie Do Aankhen Barah Haath directed by V Shantaram. It was inspired by the story of an ‘open prison’ experiment. Thanks to Kiran Bedi for introducing a series of multidimensional reforms in jail system, prisoners at open-air institutions are enjoying their lives to the fullest. Open prisons inmates show more positive attitude towards society than those in closed prisons. Philosophically, open prisons are more humane and reduce the time inmates spend in locked rooms. They help give offenders a sense of social responsibility. During my visit to the ashram, I realized that I was taken aback to see the trainings given to them to make them self-reliant. It gives inmates an effective exercise in self-reliance, cooperation and community living in a family atmosphere. They are given opportunity to lead their life in a dignified way and serve the society in a unique way.”
According to social activist Sushant Sahoo, “Open-air prisons, no doubt, are changing the life of murder help inmates to be self-sufficient. But my question is whether the state government has implemented any systems to make them join the mainstream of the society after their immediate release. In our orthodox society, people generally do not accept the persons who have served jail term and want to lead a good life. Though open-air system provides useful trainings to make them self-reliant, are they useful after their release.”
