GUWAHATI: In a bid to plug loopholes that lead to illegalities inside prisons, the Prison Headquarters, Assam has sent a proposal to the State government for mandatory "body-worn cameras" by the officials as well as visitors.
This proposal has stemmed from a suggestion of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
The use of drugs, ganja etc., by some prison inmates in Assam or elsewhere in the country is very common. Such occurrences bear testimony to the fact that prisons aren't free from loopholes in Assam or elsewhere in the country. Drugs can be supplied to some of the prison inmates by some officials on duty or by some visitors, pointed out sources.
The State Prison Headquarters wants to introduce the system whereby body-worn camera will be fitted to visitors if they are allowed to enter the jail. The camera scans the body of the person wearing it.
The Prison Headquarters also wants this rule to be applicable for all officials on duty in prison, said inside sources, adding, "If approved by the government, this rule can be taken as a pilot project in Guwahati Central Jail. If the pilot project yields the desired results, this model will be implemented in the other jails across the State in a phase-wise manner."
Assam has 31 jails. Six of them are Central jails; one each is located in Guwahati, Tezpur, Silchar, Dibrugarh, Jorhat and Nagaon. While there are 22 district jails, Jorhat has an open-air jail and Nagaon has a special jail. Haflong has a sub-jail.