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CPI demands probe into prison unrest

PUDUCHERRY: The Puducherry unit of the Communist Party of India (CPI) on Monday demanded a full-fledged enquiry into issues relating to the recent unrest at the Central Prison.

Addressing a press conference here, secretary of the CPI unit N.Kalainathan also urged the government to release the report submitted by the one-man commission that probed the death of three prisoners in 2005.

The Chief Superintendent of Jails in his clarification had only referred to the restrictions imposed on the quantity of eatables and other essential articles brought by visitors in the wake of recovery of mobile phones from some of the prisoners and that the enquiry commission had also recommended a “complete ban on the same.”

However, other details and recommendations of the one-man commission had not been disclosed, he said. Only if the probe panel’s report was made public, people would come to know of the real cause of the death of the three prisoners, he pointed out. A thorough probe was needed to ascertain how the mobile phones and other prohibited articles were smuggled into the prison, he said, calling for action against those officials who had allowed the illegal entry of such material. The enquiry should also result in recommendations on jail reform, he said.

On the issue of granting parole to convicts, he said though it should be done on the discretion of the jail authorities as per the prison rules, certain irregularities had been pointed out recently. Some of the prisoners who were undergoing treatment at the General Hospital had told a visiting CPI delegation that Rs.3000 was demanded to consider each application for parole favourably, he alleged.

Mr.Kalainathan made it clear that it had been the consistent view of the CPI that the funds allocated under the Special Component Plan (SCP) should be used only for schemes to promote the welfare of the Dalits. Diversion of SCP funds for other purposes was not a new development, he said, adding that this had been going on for the past several years. Some outfits had raised the issue now with a political motive, he alleged.

Legislators and representatives belonging to different political parties should be formed to monitor the implementation of schemes under the SCP, he said.

Even as the DMK and the AIADMK crossed swords on the seizure of ration rice, the Government had not made its position clear on the issue, Mr.Kalainathan said.

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