Last Updated: 06th March 2015 VELLORE/TIRUVANNAMALAI: The prison department’s Probation Wing has been in a state of neglect with over 50 per cent of the posts lying vacant for the past several years.
Sources in the prison department said that the present strength of the Probation Officers (PO) and Regional Probation Officer (RPO) is 28 as against the sanctioned strength of 64 in the state. Three Regional Probation Officer (RPO) postings out of a total of 12 remains unfilled for the last few years now. The three RPO postings are: Chennai, Chennai Research Cell and Kumbakonam leaving the current strength of RPOs at 9.
“The department sought the permission of the government to create a prison vigilance unit, dog squad and psychologists’ posts in Central Prisons in 2010. After the government turned down the proposal, the department surrendered 32 PO posts in 2011 and 2012 and obtained permission to recruit psychologists and establish vigilance and dog squads. Earlier there were 96 posts of PO,” said a reliable source.
The existing 28 POs are saddled with work with the responsibilities of several POs. The department has also brought down Office Assistant(OA) to PO ratio from 1:1 a couple of years ago to 1:14 now. “A decade ago, each PO had an OA. Now, most of the PO offices remain locked as there is no one to receive the letters from court, if the PO is on the field duty,” said an official.
By surrendering the PO posts, the prison department has demeaned the Probation of Offenders Act 1958 and Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of children) Act. These Acts emphasise “the reformation and rehabilitation of the offenders as useful and self-reliant members of society without subjecting them to deleterious effects of jail life,” the official added.
Under the provision of Section 3 (Power of Court to release certain offenders after admonition) and Section 4 (Power of Court to release certain offenders on probation after good conduct) of the Probation Offenders Act, the court can release offenders found guilty of an offence punishable with imprisonment of not more than two years, or with fine, or both.
The court can also alternatively sentence criminals after looking at the circumstances of the case, including nature of the offence and character of the offenders.
“The role of probation officer is critical and he has to regularly monitor the ex-convicts and first-time offenders, who are under probation. They will also help the offenders to get assistance and employment in private sectors in a bid to reinstate them in society and overcome the social stigma,” said an official.
The official added that the post of RPO is equivalent to the Superintendent of Prison, but RPOs are not provided with vehicles to review the rehabilitation of released prisoners.
“When the judiciary and correctional administrations are emphasising the importance of probation instead of incarcerating minor offenders, the prison department is not ignoring it. The alternative sentence (probation or admonition) will negate the adverse impact of imprisonment on an individual and his or her family,” Director of Administration of Prisons and Correctional Administration, Ahmed told Express.
“It will also bring down the population of prisoners and reduce the expenditure of the government. To achieve this, the probation wing should be equipped with sufficient manpower,” he suggested.
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