Covid-19 in Tamil Nadu: Prisoners make video calls to kin

MADURAI: Prisoners in three central prisons in Madurai range are now able to make video calls to their dear ones from Wednesday. This is to compensate the cancellation of direct interviews with the kin due to the Covid-19 lockdown that will be in effect for the next few weeks.
At least ten mobile phones have been purchased and made available at the Madurai Central Prison, Palayamkottai Central Prison and the Special Prison for Women in Madurai based on the decision taken by a state level committee on prisons comprising high court judges and the director general of prisons.
A senior prison official said around 100 visitors come for meeting prisoners during the days allotted to meet them and around 250 to 450 to meet remand prisoners on the said days. “They are allowed to interact with the visitors for 30 minutes. Now that it is not allowed due to Covid-19 the alternative arrangement has been made,” he said.
Each prisoner can make video call to their kin for five minutes a day (which could be extended six minutes) and can talk to their kin on all days of the week. This is to help the prisoners know that their kin are fine and vice versa. The calls can be made only to the three numbers they have given to the prison authorities.
“They will be allowed to talk under direct supervision of prison staff who will maintain a distance from where they would be able to monitor the prisoner but not hear what they speak. The video call facility is not for notorious criminals and those with extremist ideologies to avoid misuse,” the official said.
Officials said that those prisoners who have been denied the video calling facility would be only around 10% of the total inmates. Video calling can be made from 7am to 5.30pm.
This is one of the measures to avoid Covid-19 infection in prisons. The other major decision was releasing prisoners from overcrowded jails.