NHRC seeks ATR on overcrowding of Odisha jail
NHRC seeks ATR on overcrowding of Odisha jail
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Bhubaneswar: The overcrowded and unsafe Bhadrak jail in the state of Odisha has been the subject of an action taken report request from the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) that must be submitted within four weeks.
Reports state that following a hearing on a petition submitted in May by lawyer and human rights activist Radhakanta Tripathy, the commission recently sent a notice to the prison director.
Tripathy has requested assistance from the commission, alleging that the jail is overcrowded.
If the report is not received within the allotted time, the commission will be forced to use coercive procedure under Section 13 of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993, which requires a personal appearance of the authority in question for submission of the report, according to the rights panel.
According to the petition, 12 inmates are being housed in the jail's female wing, which is only intended for two.
A new jail building has been proposed, but nothing has been done about it. The petitioner claimed that prisoners are required to dwell in the run-down structure.
According to reports, in 2012, in response to a plea by Tripathy, the then-IG (prisons) promised that a new jail for the Bhadrak district would be constructed near Amargadia for an estimated cost of Rs 12.2 crore. However, according to Tripathy, that has not yet happened.
The Odisha Human Rights Commission (OHRC) instructed the state to take the necessary actions in this respect in 2015, but no progress has been achieved, he claimed.
The case will be heard again by the commission on November 9.
