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In this open prison convicts live with their families, go out to work and pay taxes for water and electricity
Jagdish Prasad Sharma begins his day with a prayer. After breakfast he sets about cleaning his truck till it gleams and drives off to work at a stone quarry. When he returns, at 7 pm, he watches his favourite TV show and spends time with his wife. Sharma's life is no different from that of an ordinary man. But there's one big difference. He lives in a prison, where he's currently serving the last part of a 14-year murder sentence. The jail that houses Sharma is in Sanganer, roughly 25 km from Jaipur, the capital of the north-western state of Rajasthan. The jail is unique in that it allows convicts to live with their families once they have completed a third of their sentence. At present there are about 150 prisoners at the Sanganer jail, including 10 women. They build their own houses, pay for water and electricity and are allowed to go out to work between 6 am and 7 pm, within a 10 km radius. Their children attend nearby schools. Prisoners engage in a wide variety of jobs; some teach at neighbouring schools, others are daily-wage earners and labourers. There are vegetable vendors, paanwallas, barbers and transporters. Dr A K Sharma, a homeopath, was convicted for murder and was put behind bars for nearly seven years. Today he runs a modest practice in Sanganer town, earning Rs 10,000 (US$ 220) a month. It all started when reformist governor Sampoornanand, inspired by the Hindi film 'Do Aankhen Baarah Haat ('Two Eyes, 12 Hands') which tells the story of a jailor who advocates an open jail and wants his dream converted to reality. The Rajasthan government started the Sri Sampoornanand Khula Bandi Shivir (open jail), named after the governor, on an experimental basis in 1963. Up until the 1980s, prisoners were allowed out from dawn to dusk to engage in agricultural work. A decade later, the government made it compulsory for convicts to live with their families, in jail, as an important step towards their rehabilitation. A committee on prison reforms has recommended that jails like Sanganer should be replicated in other states as well. According to the committee, the process prepares convicts for life outside prison, instils a sense of responsibility in them and reduces overcrowding in jails. It also costs the state less. The Sanganer jail is spread over four hectares and features orderly rows of about 150 cement houses, tin sheds and thatched cottages. The prisoners themselves have built most of the houses. At least one-third of families own television sets. The camp has just two guards and a low boundary wall. "It's a relationship of trust, but it's also very disciplined," says police constable Bajrang Lal Meena. Not just anyone, however, is sent to Sanganer jail. "We have a strict screening system," says Arun Dugar, head of prisons. "Serial murderers and rapists, people who have committed crimes against the state, drug smugglers and professional assassins are out." All the inmates are required to have served at least a third of their sentences, including remission, in an ordinary jail, Dugar adds. Jagdish Prasad Sharma, who is also elected head of the Sanganer prison community, says the jail has taught him responsibility. "I killed someone in the heat of the moment over a land dispute in my village. In Sanganer, I started to live a normal life, to take responsibility for my family," he says. "I pay taxes and have (earned) a lot of respect in the community. No one calls me a prisoner." Rajasthan's minister for jails Chandra Shekhar says: "Everyone is anxious to get rid of prisoners -- the police to the courts, the courts to prison. Somebody has to rehabilitate them (prisoners) and the open camp in Rajasthan is one way of doing this." ( InfoChange News and Features, March 2004)
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