Prison system: My experience of 1 day visit to the Burail Jail, Chandigarh

Prison system means the structure that has been constructed to restrain the offenders and the guilty in order to curtail their liberty of movement and freedom if it is established that he has violated the laws of the land. In the modern times, the system and conditions of prison have met drastic changes. I would particularly like to highlight the contributions made by Justice Krishna Iyer and Kiran Bedi in reforming the prison system. We cannot restrain the offenders to the extreme levels as they are also human beings. Various practices such as yoga, meditation, carpentry etc have been incorporated. The physical structures of the prisons have also been modified.
I got an opportunity to visit Burail jail, located in Chandigarh while I was doing Law from Panjab University. On way to Burail, I was thinking if the prison would meet any similarity to the prisons shown in movies? Well, as we moved closer to it, I could realize how secluded that place is. Burail jail is spread over large area and is surrounded by high walls with fencing and tall trees. The sanitary system of the prison and the level of maintaining cleanliness are worth appreciation. At the entrance, there were 2-3 guards who checked our permission letter and verified it with the authorities. We saw huge crowd i.e. relatives of the offenders and accused outside the premises, who were waiting for their turn to meet them. As we had the permit to go inside, the lady police personnel checked us in the cabin made especially for ladies. We handed our mobiles to the guards. We are not supposed to take any electronic device inside. On being asked about the procedure of checking the offenders, the sub inspector told us that they check if the offender has any electronic device or any kind of substance that is prohibited in the jail. We made way to see how these offenders meet their relatives. Offender sits in room enclosed with the iron bars and their relatives are made to sit outside the bars. One major loophole that I observed was that the noise level was so high that hardly one person was audible to other. They could hardly interact in such noise. Moreover, the fruits given by their relatives were lying on the floor. There was no organized way of it. We then went to see the ladies jail, in other words a separate building with high walls to keep ladies apart from the male prisoners. Most of the female prisoners were accused of the dowry harassment or for fraud. There were some females who were living along with their infants. The females are provided with the sewing machines. The female cell has dormitory system with the washroom attached to them. They are also provided with the facility like beautician and tailor.
Further, we were not allowed to go inside the male cells due to security reasons. We were told that they had certain timings to roam outside, play some sports or read books in the library. The art of living, yoga sessions are organized very frequently. There is a separate building where the prisoners engage themselves in activities like carpentry, pot making etc. we saw the flower pots, huge tubs made of clay and a complete stock of the chairs, tables and dice.
The jail has a good kitchen system. We are not supposed to go inside but one can always taste the meals that are being served to the prisoners. A high quality level has been maintained by the jail authorities.
If we talk about the security level, the CCTV have been installed to keep a check on the movement of the prisoners. It is always kept at continuous surveillance. On the basis of my personal experience, I did not find any flaw in the conditions and the routine of the prisoners and prison authorities.