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May 21, 2020

Research: Tinka Tinka Prison

This paper presents a report of a study that highlights the unique policy of Madhya Pradesh Prison Department that permits inmates to receive outward calls from their families and friends during the Covid-19 lockdown. 

Location: Madhya Pradesh
Year: 2020




Inmates go gaga with telephones in Madhya Pradesh jails: 

A study by Tinka Tinka Foundation

Telephones are now the only hope and the window of communication for inmates lodged in the jails of Madhya Pradesh. Due to the existing Covid-19 thatthreat resulteding in lockdown, visitations have been stopped in all jails across India. The only way of connecting with the outside world available to inmates is through telephones and they are finding relief through this technology.

The analysis selected 8 jails of Madhya Pradesh, namely Jabalpur (Central Jail), Indore (Central Jail), Sagar (Central Jail), Ujjain (Central Jail), Bhopal (Central Jail), Gwalior (Central Jail), Hoshangabad (Central Jail) and Indore (District Jail). All these 8 jails are representative jails of Madhya Pradesh, the second largest state in India byin area and fifth largest in terms of population.

These are among the largest jails of MP, include women inmates, and are overcrowded over-crowded too. The analysis included the entire prison population of these jails, a sum total of nearly 15,698 inmates, including 14955 males and 743 female inmates.

This analysis is conducted by Vartika Nanda, the founder of the Tinka Tinka Foundation in collaboration with the Madhya Pradesh Prison Department. Tinka Tinka Foundation is working towards prison reforms in India. Analysis has been in collaboration with Madhya Pradesh Prison Department. A unique coffee table book on prisons, Tinka Tinka Madhya Pradesh, had made news in 2018.

The total number of landlines is 73 and the total number of mobile phones is 34 across all the jails. The phone density in the jails ranges from 231 inmates per phone in Jabalpur Central Jabalpur Central Jail to 111 inmates per phone in Ujjain Central Jail. Usage permission durations have been doubled during this period from three hrs to six hours on a daily basis.

Madhya Pradesh Prison Department is perhaps the only state in India to allow inmates to receive outward calls.

12 comments:

narendra thakur said...


You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty. ,,,now unterstanding the meaning of these lines after seeing your videos and post mam and providing news of inmates in this hard times is commendable work i hope this telephone services help them to talk to there loved ones
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPCHcZxovW4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ML8Xn0VHsOc&t=18s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HZstHV61kY
and the cheers to this inmate corona worriors
#tinkatinka #vartikananda #humanrights #prisonreforns

Unknown said...

During the present COVID-19 crisis, Tinka Tinka has covered a number of jails across India in its Tinka Jail News segment. The list began with covering jails in Rajasthan, then it covered the Agra Central Jail, jail in Madhya Pradesh, Montage, then it progressed to report about the four jails of Mau, Hamirpur, Meerut and Pilibhit it then covered the jail of Haldwani, Uttarakhand, the jail in Maharashtra, the jail in Chandigarh, Sonbhadra jail, jail in Hoshiarpur, Punjab and the latest news was centred around jails in Kerala. Strangely, all these prisons that are engaged in making masks and sanitisers, for themselves, for the government and private authorities, haven't been appreciated enough by most of the mediahouses. This initiative by Madhya Pradesh is a crucial step towards prison reforms. More states should come up with such steps. #vartikananda #jail #prison #tinkatinka

Suraj Pillai said...

This should surely continue even after the lock down... Good decision to provide telephone and mobile calls to the inmates so that they can know the whereabouts of their loved ones. #tinkatinka #jail #prison #vartikananda

Riddhi Suri said...

To rehabilitate and reform the lives of prisoners this is a major step . The people in prison can Become lonely inside the jail. It is absolutely heart touching how you can perform such innovative tasks with such serenity. This is such a good and selfless work that you are doing ma'am.

Arthata A. Harvande said...

Vartika ma'am is working really hard to make prisoner's life more serene as they are also human beings like us. It's something unique and out of the box thinking for the prisoners. Connecting them to their relatives by phone because the family can't meet them at this crucial time is a bold move.
#tinkatinka #humanrights #vartikananda

Ananya said...

Tinka Tinka is bringing attention to the public, how the pandemic is affecting prisons, something that most people I am sure never thought about. This not only shows the ingenuity of the prison administration to cope quickly with the challenges posed by the pandemic by installing phones but also the cooperation of inmates, how they in their small way are helping by not further spreading the virus by not going out on parole or having vistors. #prisonreforms #news #corona #tinkatinka


Prisha Kapoor said...

Corona has changed our lives drastically. In this phase when inmates are behind the bars away from their family, telephone is playing a major role to make connectivity between inmates and their family. This is a commendable job by Dr. Vartika Nanda, Founder of Tinka Tinka Foundation. These steps will definitely bring a positive change in the lives of inmates. #prisonreforms #news #corona #tinkatinka

Prisha Kapoor said...

Corona has changed our lives drastically. In this phase when inmates are behind the bars away from their family, telephone is playing a major role to make connectivity between inmates and their family. This is a commendable job by Dr. Vartika Nanda, Founder of Tinka Tinka Foundation. These steps will definitely bring a positive change in the lives of inmates. #prisonreforms #news #corona #tinkatinka

Prisha Kapoor said...

Corona has changed our lives drastically. In this phase when inmates are behind the bars away from their family, telephone is playing a major role to make connectivity between inmates and their family. This is a commendable job by Dr. Vartika Nanda, Founder of Tinka Tinka Foundation. These steps will definitely bring a positive change in the lives of inmates. #prisonreforms #news #corona #tinkatinka

Prisha Kapoor said...

Corona has changed our lives drastically. In this phase when inmates are behind the bars away from their family, telephone is playing a major role to make connectivity between inmates and their family. This is a commendable job by Dr. Vartika Nanda, Founder of Tinka Tinka Foundation. These steps will definitely bring a positive change in the lives of inmates. #prisonreforms #news #corona #tinkatinka

Pranav Chandhok said...

Communication on telephone has created a bridge between the two ends during the hard times of corona. This is the phase when all have to follow corona protocols of social distancing to keep themselves safe. Dr. Vartika Nanda has connected the both ends in a magnificient way by launching jail radio in Haryana. The programmes and achievements of inmates are broadcast via podcast and other social media channels which the family members can listen sitting at home. They are more than happy to know about their welfare. #vartikananda #tinkatinka #prisonreform #j=life in jail #jailradio

Pranav Chandhok said...

Communication on telephone has created a bridge between the two ends during the hard times of corona. This is the phase when all have to follow corona protocols of social distancing to keep themselves safe. Dr. Vartika Nanda has connected the both ends in a magnificient way by launching jail radio in Haryana. The programmes and achievements of inmates are broadcast via podcast and other social media channels which the family members can listen sitting at home. They are more than happy to know about their welfare. #vartikananda #tinkatinka #prisonreform #j=life in jail #jailradio