16 October, 2025. Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi: NHRC National Conference

National Conference on Human Rights of Prison Inmates

16 October, 2025:  New Delhi: Speaker at the first session of the National Conference on ‘Enhancing Quality of Life of Inmates: Ensuring Dignity, Well-Being and Human Rights Behind Bars’ organised by National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on its 32nd Foundation Day with the theme ‘Human Rights of Prison Inmates’. The panel was chaired by Justice V. Ramasubramanian, Chairperson, NHRC. Other panellists were Rakesh Kumar Pandey, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, Valay Singh, Co-founder and Lead, India Justice Report and Maitreyi Misra, Director of Mitigation and Mental Health and Criminal Justice, Square Circle Clinic.  The conference was inaugurated by former President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind.

Needless to say- Radio In Prison- published by National Book Trust, India was specially mentioned.

Chair: Shri Justice V. Ramasubramanian, Chairperson, NHRC

Panellists: 

Shri Rakesh Kumar Pandey, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs

Shri Valay Singh, Co-founder and Lead, India Justice Report

Prof (Dr.) Vartika Nanda, Indian Prison Reformer, Media Educator and Media Commentator

Ms. Maitreyi Misra, Director of Mitigation and Mental Health and Criminal Justice, Square Circle Clinic

Vigyan Bhawan had witnessed the release of Tinka Tinka Tihar in 2013 with the union home minister releasing it. Today, after 12 years, talking about the journey is going to be truly memorable. 

It was a proud moment to attend this conference on ‘Human Rights of Prison Inmates’  with former President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind addressing the 32nd Foundation Day.

The day was fruitful. Gratitude.

Press Release:  New Delhi: 17th October, 2025

NHRC’s National Conference on ‘Human Rights of Prison Inmates’ Calls for Comprehensive Reforms

Speaker at the first session of the National Conference on ‘Enhancing Quality of Life of Inmates: Ensuring Dignity, Well-Being and Human Rights Behind Bars’ organised by National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on its 32nd Foundation Day with the theme ‘Human Rights of Prison Inmates’. The panel was chaired by Justice V. Ramasubramanian, Chairperson, NHRC. Other panellists were Rakesh Kumar Pandey, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, Valay Singh, Co-founder and Lead, India Justice Report and Maitreyi Misra, Director of Mitigation and Mental Health and Criminal Justice, Square Circle Clinic.  The conference was organised by NHRC The conference was inaugurated by former President of India, Ram Nath Kovind.

NHRC, India’s National Conference on the ‘Human Rights of Prison Inmates’ came up with several suggestions for improvements. Rehabilitation of prisoners, de-congestion of jails, encouraging correctional services, improving the mental health of prisoners, addressing the issues related to women prisoners and their children and de-addiction highlighted

NHRC Chairperson, Justice V. Ramasubramanian said the Commission will now work on an advisory to central and state governments for prison reforms and also evolve a mechanism for monitoring the progress.

NHRC Secretary General, Bharat Lal said the Commission organises Conferences with the objective to mainstream discourse on various issues to find solutions for the overall improvements in the human rights situation of different segments in society.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), India organised a National Conference on ‘Human Rights for Prison Inmates’ in New Delhi

During the discussions, a lot of valuable suggestions came up on rehabilitation of prisoners, de-congestion of jails, encouraging correctional services, improving the mental health of prisoners, addressing the issues related to women prisoners and their children and de-addiction.

NHRC Chairperson Stresses Need for Action and Accountability

Chairing the Conference, NHRC Chairperson, Justice V. Ramasubramanian said that the purpose of the Conference was to learn from all the stakeholders about the problems being faced by the prison inmates and how and what appropriate recommendations can be sent to the Centre and State Governments. He said that the Commission will now work on an advisory to central and state governments for prison reforms and also evolve a mechanism for monitoring the progress.

Earlier, starting the discussions, Justice Ramasubramanian said that as per the UN office on Drugs and Crime report, the global prison population reached 11.5 million in 2022. Nearly a third of the global prison population is of pre-trial detainees with extensive costs to the state, communities, families and individuals. Prisons are overcrowded in the majority of countries worldwide. The budget, resource and capacity constraints lead to unliveable conditions and poor prison health. Prisons reinforce existing inequalities with an over representation of marginalized communities and insufficient attention to women, youth, persons with disabilities and other prisoners with special needs.

Quoting from the Prison Statistics India 2022 report released by the National Crime Records Bureau in December 2023, he said that in 2020 the occupancy rate of prisons in the country was higher by 118% than the actual capacity of 1306 prisons. It further rose to 131.4% of the actual capacity of 1330 prisons in 2022. The increase in the number of prisons did not help the situation.

Justice Ramasubramanian cited various laws in the colonial era and after independence with regards to prisons. He said that a recent initiative included the ‘Model Prisons and Correctional Services Act,’ prepared by the Union Government in the year 2023 with the objective of holistically addressing all relevant issues relating to prison administration. It has been shared with all States and Union Territories to modify their respective Prison Acts.

Session I: Enhancing Quality of Life Behind Bars

The conference was divided into three technical sessions. Justice V. Ramasubramanian chaired the first session on ‘Enhancing quality of life of Inmates: Ensuring dignity, well-being and human rights behind bars.’ The panelists included Rakesh Kumar Pandey, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, Valay Singh, Co-founder and Lead, India Justice Report, Prof (Dr.) Vartika Nanda, Indian Prison Reformer, Media Educator and Commentator and Ms. Maitreyi Misra, Director of Mitigation and Mental Health and Criminal Justice, Square Circle Clinic. It was emphasised during the discussions that the solution has to be found with the right combination of creative and practical approaches besides the implementation of Model Prisons and Correctional Services Act. The need for collaborative attention from all stakeholders towards prisoners’ mental health was also stressed.

Professor Vartika Nanda’s Address: The Transformative Power of Prison Radio

Professor Vartika Nanda shared powerful insights on prison reforms, highlighting her initiative Tinka Jail Radio and her recent book titled- Radio in Prison, published by National Book Trust, India. She spoke extensively about how the book documents the evolution of India’s prison radio and the pioneering concept of jail journalism initiated by Tinka Tinka Foundation. The book showcases how prison radio fosters creative expression, emotional well-being, and rehabilitation, giving inmates a voice through Tinka Tinka Prison Radio Podcasts. Emphasizing the role of sound, music, and colours in improving mental health, she underlined how such initiatives transform the prison environment. Professor Nanda also discussed ongoing prison radio programs in District Jail, Agra, District Jail, Dehradun, and the jails of Haryana, where communication through the prison radio  is driving positive change. 

Session II: Women Prisoners and Their Children

The second session on ‘Female inmates and their children: Strengthening institutional framework for gender-sensitive prison reforms’ was chaired by Smt Meeran Chadha Borwankar, Former DG, BPRD and Core Group Member, NHRC. She highlighted issues of hygiene, mental health and access to skill development. She questioned the trend of relocating prisons away from cities, which further isolates inmates from their families. The panelists were Smt Tripti Gurha, Chairperson, NCPCR, Dr. K.P. Singh (IPS), Former DGP, Haryana, Professor Vijay Raghavan, NHRC Core Group Member and Project Director, Prayas and Ms. Monika Dhawan, Director, India Vision Foundation. The points emphasized included concerns over the lack of reliable data on children 6-years age living with their mothers in prisons, need for National Policy on Custodial Women, improved medical and mental health care, menstrual hygiene and need-based arrests besides giving interim bail for pregnant or lactating women and greater dignity in post-release rehabilitation.

Session III: Tackling Judicial Delays and Strengthening Legal Aid

The third session was chaired by Justice Rajeev Shakdher, Former Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh High Court on ‘Undertrials inmate: Tackling judicial delays, strengthening legal aid and promoting alternatives to incarceration.’ He emphasised that prioritising merit in judicial appointments and processes could serve as an effective solution to mitigate delays. Since 2017, the case clearance rate in courts has consistently been 100% or above, indicating steady performance but there are persistent backlogs due to old pending criminal cases. The panelists included Manoj Yadava, Former DG (I), NHRC, Niraj Verma, Secretary (Justice), Ministry of Law and Justice, Dr. Rakesh Kumar, National Executive Director, SPYM. The issues highlighted during the discussions included frequent granting of adjournments as a leading cause of judicial delays, financial barriers to accessing justice, plea bargaining in expediting case disposals at an earlier stage, alarming rise in substance abuse, subpar quality among advocates, among others.

Concluding Remarks

In his concluding remarks, Secretary General, Bharat Lal said that the suggestions in the Conference will help the Commission firm up the recommendations. He said that the Commission organises Conferences with the objective to mainstream discourse on various issues to find solutions for the overall improvements in the human rights situation of different segments in society.

The NHRC, India Member Smt Vijaya Bharathi Sayani, DG (I), Anand Swaroop, Registrar (Law), Joginder Singh, Joint Secretary, Samir Kumar, Chairperson and Members of State Human Rights Commissions and other Commissions, judges of High Courts, senior government officers, academia, NGOs, human rights defenders, researchers, senior prison officers, among others participated in the Conference.

References:

Website of NHRC

Tinka Tinka Prison Reforms: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzXoJ5LCxJo

Panipat Jail Radio Revolution। तिनका जेल। Brut। Year 2022। Tinka Tinka Foundation। Vartika Nanda

Blog: Dr. Vartika Nanda: Media Educator & Prison Reformer: 16 October, 2025. Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi: NHRC National Conference

NHRC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xRrwj47gqw

Webcast: Foundation Day 2025 and National Conference on Rights of Prison Inmates | Webcast Services of National Informatics Centre, Government of India

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