In A First, Odisha Plans House Arrest For ‘Non-Violent’ Petty Offenders With Anklet Tracking System

Bhubaneswar: If everything goes as planned, Odisha is likely to become the first state in India to employ GPS-enabled tracking devices for under-trial prisoners (UTPs) facing non-heinous charges.

To decongest prisons and reduce the government’s expenditure on jail inmates, the Odisha prison department has proposed fitting the tracking devices, estimated to cost between Rs 10,000 and Rs 15,000, to the ankles of these UTPs. These are designed to be tamper-proof.

Director general of prisons, Dr Manoj Chhabra told the media that prison department has sent a proposal to the state government for introducing the technology through which ‘non-violent undertrials involved in petty offences’ can be kept confined to their houses. “Police will be alerted if an UTP tries to escape from a designated area programmed into the device. The government is still considering it,” he was quoted as saying.

While highlighting the notable prison reforms initiated by the Odisha government, the directorate recently presented the ankle tracking system for undertrials before the parliamentary standing committee on home affairs, primarily aimed at addressing prison overcrowding.

There are over 20,000 inmates in 87 jails of the state. Approximately 65% of undertrials in these jails are detained for offences punishable by up to seven years in prison.

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court had advised the states not to ‘mechanically’ arrest a person accused of a crime entailing maximum punishment of seven years. “During the grant of bail, the undertrials may be asked whether they want jail or bail. To get bail, the tracking device can be made mandatory for them. The government need not buy the device. Rather, the undertrials may be asked to purchase the device in lieu of bail,” Chhabra told TOI.