PANAJI
The Goa Legislative Assembly on Tuesday passed a comprehensive prison reform legislation aimed at transforming jails into correctional institutions focused on rehabilitation, skill development and prisoner welfare.
The legislation, piloted by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, who also holds the Home portfolio, seeks to modernise prison administration and introduce digital interventions in the prison system.
The new law replaces an outdated framework rooted in the colonial-era Prisons Act, 1894, which largely focused on custody, discipline and prison security. It aligns Goa's prison administration with the Centre's progressive Model Prisons Act, 2023.
Moving the Bill in the House, Sawant said the legislation consolidates provisions relating to prisons and prisoners under a single umbrella. It also introduces several reform-oriented measures, including welfare programmes, vocational training and rehabilitation services for inmates, he said.
A key feature of the legislation is the recognition of prisoners' basic human rights while ensuring discipline and security within prisons. The Bill also provides for the constitution of a Board for Skill Development Programmes and Vocational Training to equip inmates with employable skills and improve their prospects of reintegration into society after release.
In addition, a State Advisory Board for Prisons will be set up to advise the government on prison management, inmate welfare and correctional policies, according to the law.
Goa's prison administration had long been governed by laws dating back to the Portuguese era and later by central enactments introduced after Liberation. Several of its provisions had become obsolete over time and were no longer suited to the shift to the correctional needs of prisoners.
The legislation will put Goa in the league of several other States in India which have moved towards a reform-centric prison system which prioritises rehabilitation, skill development and social reintegration alongside security and custodial functions.
