Central scheme wins freedom for 41 inmates

Time of India

03-05-2025

Pune: A total of 41 undertrial prisoners (UTPs) and convicts walked out of
state prisons
after receiving bail under a centrally funded initiative introduced in 2024.
Known as
Poor Prisoners' Scheme
, it assists impoverished inmates who remain incarcerated due to their financial inability to pay fines or secure bail. The state prison authorities confirmed that a four-member empowered committee across various districts had identified 35 UTPs and 2 convicts in 2024, followed by four UTPs in 2025 as eligible recipients. Subsequently, Rs 5.54 lakh was submitted to the courts to facilitate their release on bail.
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The freed beneficiaries were previously held in various correctional facilities, including Yerawada, Arthur Road, Taloja, Thane, Nashik, Nagpur, Dhule, Yavatmal, and Chandrapur jails. The state's jails have a total population of 39,009. The scheme aims to
decongest prisons
in the days to come.
Special inspector general (prisons) Jalindar Supekar told TOI, "A large number of prisoners are languishing in 60 jails for a considerable period of time even after they were granted bail and pleaded guilty in petty criminal cases because they cannot engage the services of lawyers and fulfil bail conditions due to their poor economic conditions."
"After the central govt scheme to release poor prisoners on bail came into effect, we issued instructions to state jail superintendents to secure copies of the bail orders from the courts and ensure that maximum prisoners get the benefit of the scheme. Courts also inform the jails if the accused is not in a position to fulfil bail conditions," Supekar said.
He said that jail superintendents, through the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA), identify prisoners eligible under the scheme and recommend their names to the district-wise empowered committee for a final decision. The prisons department received funds of Rs 9.27 lakh and Rs 7.5 lakh from the govt in 2024 and 2025 for implementing the scheme, he added.
DLSA member Sonal Patil said, "First-time offenders involved in theft, cheating, robbery, among other cases, are granted bail. We conduct inquiries as to why they are unable to furnish surety for securing bail. To examine their financial capacity, we render services of civil representatives or NGOs, probationary officers, revenue officers, and social workers and identify the beneficiaries. We submit the list to the empowered committee because they are authorised to pay fines up to Rs 25,000 and cash surety up to Rs 40,000."
Patil said the prisons department gave us a voluminous list of prisoners, but our office minutely scrutinised the list, checked their criminal antecedents, and identified first-time offenders. Prisoners involved in multiple crimes and habitual offenders are not considered under the scheme, she added.