Even prisoners in Kerala are getting Aadhaar!
After Bengaluru's Central Prison, those in Kerala are now introducing Aadhaar cards for inmates. The state's prison department has ventured on a project to provide Aadhaar, first to over 3,500 convicted prisoners and then to undertrials. It has already been launched in many prisons. About 30 inmates have enrolled at the Central Prison at Poojappura. But how is it going to help authorities?
How will Aadhaar for inmates help authorities?
Currently, India's 1,401 jails share a common database called e-prisons, which consists a jail index number for each of the 4.19L prisoners along with their details. In March, the Home Ministry directed prison authorities to seed inmates' Aadhaar. It will help regulate facilities like interviews, transport, release etc, and also keep a check on the lawbreakers after their release.
But why is it needed for visitors?
The Ministry urged mandating Aadhaar for visitors too. "With this, any law-enforcing agency sitting anywhere can know about visitors' details. This will further streamline the prison administration where inmate and visitor management is a key aspect," an official said. This will also enable officials if aides outside jail are helping suspects in prison by examining who all and when they are visiting.
So how will inmates in prisons be enrolled?
Prison staff would make a list of inmates who don't have Aadhaar; the list would be updated periodically. Documents would be collected from their homes, which would be verified by jail superintendents. Akshaya Centre employees would visit prisons to collect inmates' biometrics. Undertrials are being ignored for now as "they may go free before the completion of enrolment", said Poojappura Superintendent S Santhosh.
How many people will it impact?
Kerala has three central prisons, 11 district jails, 16 sub-jails and 16 special sub-jails, apart from three women's prisons and three open prisons, including one for women. About 8,000 inmates currently are lodged in these. Most are expected to eventually get Aadhaar through this program.
