Page 1 - Auro Model Prison Activities
P. 1
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ACTIVITIES CONDUCTED IN
THE CENTRAL PRISON KALAPET, PUDUCHERRY
ACTIVITIES ON PRISON REFORMATION
In India the objectives behind imprisonment have moved from incarceration, deterrence
to correction where reformation and rehabilitation occupies a pivotal role. The idea of prison
reform entails turning a ‘deviant’ individual into a ‘normal’ law-abiding citizen. It indicates a
shift in the practice of imprisonment, entailing a move away from addressing the ‘physical
body’ to addressing the ‘soul’ of a person. Ensuring that an imprisoned person could return
to society to lead a law–abiding and self–reliant life is a universal idea in reform programme.
Prisons are expected to undertake human engineering. The aim is to influence and modify
perceptions, attitudes and behaviour of those who are locked inside those highly guarded walls.
Introducing reformation activities in Pondicherry Prison has helped prisoners in
inexplicable manner where people who haven’t spoken in years came out and shared their
stories just because they were given liberty and provided a space for emotional expression.
“In the Jail, the thieves, the murderers, the swindlers, and as I looked
at them, I saw Vasudeva, it was Narayana whom I found in these
darkened souls and misused bodies...”
- Sri Aurobindo
Activities in the Central Prison, Kalapet 1 │ Page
