The Union government has taken a serious view of some States discriminating prisoners on the basis of their caste and religion and assigning them work accordingly. Saying that it was unconstitutional, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) wrote to Chief Secretaries of all States/Union Territories urging them to ensure that their Jail Manuals did not contain any discriminatory provisions.
In a communication issued a couple of days ago, the Ministry said it had come to notice that the Jail Manuals of some States provided for segregation of prisoners on the basis of their caste and religion and they were being assigned work in the prisons accordingly.
