Pan-India Expansion of Open Correctional Institutions
In News
What Happened
Why It Matters
Background
History & Context
What Changed
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BEFORE: Women prisoners were explicitly excluded from open prison eligibility in several states like Assam, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal. NOW: The Supreme Court declared this exclusion as blatant gender discrimination and mandated gender-sensitive protocols to ensure equal access for women.
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BEFORE: Open prisons were treated as peripheral experiments with drastic under-utilization, some operating at just 6 to 15 percent capacity despite massive overcrowding in closed jails. NOW: States must rapidly establish and expand OCIs in a time-bound manner, with High Courts holding continuous mandamus over the process.
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BEFORE: Eligibility, wages, and vocational training in open prisons were arbitrary and varied wildly between states. NOW: An SC-appointed High-Powered Committee will formulate uniform Common Minimum Standards for eligibility, healthcare, family integration, and contemporary vocational training.
Prelims Angle
NCERT Connection
Practice Questions
Q1
With Reference ToWith reference to the Supreme Court's 2026 directives on Open Correctional Institutions (OCIs), consider the following statements: 1. The Court mandated the exclusion of women prisoners from OCIs citing inherent security and infrastructural concerns. 2. Data relied upon by the Court demonstrated that per-prisoner daily expenditure in OCIs is substantially lower than in traditional closed prisons. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?