The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday directed the State to file a report on a public interest litigation petition that sought a direction to the government to fill vacancies in the posts of social workers and psychologists in all central prisons and special prisons for women.
A Division Bench of Justices Pushpa Sathyanarayana and P. Velmurugan sought the State’s response on a petition filed by advocate K.R. Raja of Madurai, who pointed out that only two social workers were working in Madurai and Coimbatore central prisons.
The sanctioned strength of social workers in the State was only three — one each in Madurai, Coimbatore and Vellore prisons. In Vellore prison, the post was lying vacant. The other central prisons had no such post and it was discriminatory in nature, the petitioner said, adding no reasons had been given for selecting only three prisons.
With the government having renamed Prison Department as the Department of Prisons and Correctional Services, essential services for the prisoners’ mental well-being should be provided. Qualified candidates should be encouraged to take up the post of social workers, he said.
Instead of appointing candidates to the regular post of social workers, the department had recruited persons with a degree in Social Works as prison counsellors on contract basis. They were underpaid and worked under severe stress. It was the duty of the department to appoint as many social workers as possible depending upon the number of prisoners, he said.
The petitioner said social workers and psychologists should be appointed in the prisons to study the prisoners, classify their problems, participate in orientation process, establish cooperation and understanding between the prisoners and the administration, help prisoners develop contact with their families and prepare them for release.
Due to the lack of attention towards the psychological well-being of the prisoners, suicides cases were reported, he said.
The hearing in the case was adjourned by three weeks.
