The Odisha human rights commission has asked the government and the Additional Director General of police ( prisons) to submit a report on children of jail inmates and what steps have been taken for such children.
Acting on a petition filed by Sumitra and her husband jailed in Sambalpur with their two-year-old child in 2014, the Commission sought a report from the Additional Director General of police (prison) within six weeks.
Rights activist Biswapriya Kanungo pointed out that Sumitra’s child has crossed six years of age and as per law the child ought to have been shifted from jail to a child protection home or a government-funded welfare institution.
The allegation is that the children of the jailed person often languish in the prison with their parents despite the clear guideline and provisions of child protection laws which stipulate that due care, arrangement, educational activity etc should be provided till such children reach the age of 6, following which the child is to be sent to a welfare home or handed over to the child protection centre. A child cannot remain in jail, it is violation of law and human rights, said Kanungo.