In an initiative to honour the architect of Indian constitution Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar, the Madhya Pradesh state government released more than 150 prisoners, including five women, from various jails across the state for the first time on Ambedkar Jayanti on Friday.
Till now, prisoners were released from jails on two occasions in a year, the Republic Day (26 January) and the Independence Day (15 August). The MP government has now added two more days, Ambedkar Jayanti (14 April) and Gandhi Jayanti (2 October), taking the total number of occasions to release prisoners on humanitarian grounds to four days in a year.
The prisoners released on Friday were those who had a record of good conduct and had completed a minimum of 14 years in jail while serving life sentences for crimes like murder. The inmates convicted under charges of sedition, rape, POCSO Act and narcotics smuggling and dealing were not released.
The decision to release prisoners on the birth anniversary of Dr Ambedkar was taken by a committee set up last year by the State’s General Administration Department (GAD), which was subsequently approved by the state government. On the recommendations of the committee, the state government has also decided to release prisoners on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti too.
“Today, we have released 154 prisoners, including five women, from different Central Jails of MP on the occasion of Ambedkar jayanti,” Madhya Pradesh Director General (DG) Prisons, Arvind Kumar told The Statesman. “This is the first time in MP that prisoners have been released on Ambedkar Jayanti,” Kumar said.
“Those released today are mainly the ones serving life sentences and who have completed a minimum 14 years in jail and have at least six years of good conduct record,” he informed.
According to information from officials, among the prisoners released, 22 were from the Gwalior Central Jail, 21 from Indore Central Jail, 15 from the Rewa Central Jail, 14 from Satna Central Jail and similarly prisoners were also released from other jails across the state.