Video-conferencing facility in jails, courts to be expanded

MUMBAI: In an effort to reduce the risk and cost of ferrying under-trials from jails to courts and back, the Maharashtra government is planning to expand the video conferencing facility in prisons and courts and has identified 83 locations for the purpose.

A budget of Rs two crore has been earmarked for the same this year, Principal Secretary (Home) Medha Gadgil said. At present there are 28 prisons and 15 courts where the video conferencing facility is available.

The government has now decided to enhance the facility providing 20 video conferencing units in prisons. Three video conferencing units will be allocated in Mumbai central prison, two each in Thane central prison, Yerwada central prison, Taloja central prison, Aurangabad central prison and Nagpur central prison.

There will be one unit each in Byculla district jail, Amravati, Kolhapur, Nashik central prisons, Chandrapur, Kalyan, Akola district jails.

As many as 60 units will be given to seven courts. Among them include 15 for Mumbai city civil and sessions court, 20 for Chief Judicial Magistrate court, four each for Aurangabad district court and Nashik district court, six each for Pune and Thane district courts and five for Nagpur district court.

Similarly, there is proposal to install one video conferencing unit each in J J Hospital in Mumbai and Sasoon hospital in Pune.

Since 2005, the facility is functional in Mumbai Central prison, Thane central prison, Yerwada central prison, Byculla district jail. In 2010, it was extended to Nagpur central prison, Amravati central prison, Kolhapur, Nashik, Aurangabad central prisons.

Similarly, Chandrapur and Akola district jails had the facility in 2007 which was later non-functional. It was restarted in 2010.

The other prisons where video conferencing facility was brought in 2010 include Satara, Solapur, Ahmednagar, Kalyan, Alibag, Dhule, Osmanabad,Jalgaon, Yavatmal, Bhandara, Buldhana, Wardha, Kolhapur district jails.

This year, the facility was extended to Taloja central prison, Beed, Sangli and Nanded district jails.

Gadgil said given the growing number of undertrials, the need of the hour was to upgrade the video conferencing facility with more number of units to avoid risk and cost of ferrying undertrials to the courts and back to the jails.