840 convicts to get 2 months’ remission of sentences, says ADGP

Coimbatore: As many as 840 short-term prison convicts across the state will get two months' remission of their sentences every year for good behaviour, according to ADGP (prisons) C Sylendrababu. The ADGP has issued an order in this effect. The prison manual grants powers to the ADGP (prisons) for this remission of sentence based on the conduct of the inmates. But this power had not been used since 2003, he said.

"I ordered to remit the sentence by two months every year for 840 prisoners who are undergoing short-term sentences across the state. Hence, many prisoners will complete their sentences prematurely and come out of the prison soon," said Sylendrababu while addressing media persons here on Sunday. Around 175 short-term convicts from the Coimbatore Central Prison will benefit from the remission order.

Sylendrababu said that the prison department is providing heavy vehicle driving training to 300 convicts in Chennai. "We are going to provide training on heavy vehicle driving, computer-aided design course and welding for 300 convicts in Coimbatore central prison. The training will be provided with the help of GD Naidu Institute," he added.

The state government has also recruited 1,000 new prison warders and they would get training from October 1. After the training, they will be posted in various prisons across the state, he said.

When asked about deaths of prisoners, Sylendrababu replied that aged people were arrested for their crimes. Some of them were having heart attack, cancer and diabetics. Whenever they fall ill, the prison authorities immediately shift them to prison hospital and sometime to the government hospital. "We are working to reduce prisoners' death," he added.

Isha Foundation's environmental initiative Project Green Hands (PGH) in association with the central prison, Coimbatore, launched a tree planting programme on the prison premises here on Sunday. "We have planted 6,000 tree saplings including teak, red sanders, fruit tree inside the prison premises," he added.

Many short-term convicts across the state have been working in open air jail and industrial sectors run by the prison authorities within the jail premises. They have been demanding ADGP Sylendrababu to consider their demands for remission of sentence based on their good conducts.