CJI unveils 6-point plan to transform prisons into rehab hubs, not just jails

The judiciary on Saturday pushed for a reintegration model that treats jail time as a planned comeback and not just confinement. At an event in Gurugram, Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, laid out a six-part roadmap — district-level reintegration boards, multilingual legal help for migrant detainees, psychological support alongside skill training, industry tie-ups for employment, a tech-based home-custody model, and looking at an inmate’s progress even after release. Launching the programme virtually from District Jail, Gurugram, the CJI said the system must create defined pathways for inmates to rebuild their lives rather than return to custody.

CJI Surya Kant made it clear that at the centre of the roadmap was a call to dismantle the cycle in which lack of documentation, linguistic barriers and procedural unfamiliarity pushed detainees into prolonged custody. The CJI said reintegration must not remain a matter of chance, while proposing boards in every district, comprising counsellors, employers, NGOs and probation officers to ensure each release carried a defined support path into employment, continuity of treatment and legal follow-up.

The CJI emphasised that migrant detainees formed a distinct class within prisons and often remained behind bars only due to absence of identification papers, lack of sureties or inability to navigate local courts. Justice Surya Kant pressed for simplified bail handling, translation-based legal assistance and documentation support, stating that mobility-based vulnerability “cannot be mistaken as malice”.

Psychological rehabilitation was positioned alongside vocational skilling as a central reform imperative. Justice Surya Kant said vocational training alone would not prevent re-offending, without trauma-oriented counselling and addiction-withdrawal systems. The CJI linked this to the ongoing anti-drug drives in Punjab and Haryana, describing targeted treatment as the precursor to successful reintegration.

A major departure from conventional custodial practice was flagged in the form of home-based regulated custody. Justice Surya Kant referred to a UK model supported by a Bengaluru-based technology system, in which convicts stayed at home within a defined geo-radius while movements were tracked electronically. The CJI said the model preserved oversighted while preventing functional and financial collapse of families who otherwise would bear the invisible cost of incarceration.

The judiciary also pitched for integration of emerging-economy trades such as logistics, digital services and technology-oriented vocations into prison-based training, backed by corporate apprenticeship and recruitment commitments. The CJI sought a data-supported framework tracking behavioural change, training outcomes and post-release employment, calling it essential to verify whether correctional interventions are succeeding.

Haryana simultaneously rolled out one of the country’s first diploma-driven correctional education models, offering a three-year polytechnic diploma in computer engineering along with ITI-level trades including COPA, welding, plumbing, dress making, electrical systems, woodwork technology, sewing technology and cosmetology. The programmes would run with certified faculty, modern laboratories and jail-based manufacturing units acting as practical training spaces. A stipend-linked pathway, counselling support and conduct-based advancement would govern progression. The plan was structured by a committee headed by Justice Kuldeep Tiwari.

CJI Surya Kant also launched Punjab State Legal Services Authority’s month-long anti-drug campaign led by Justice Lisa Gill, covering schools, colleges, panchayats, NGOs, rehabilitation networks and district administrations to build NDPS awareness, behavioural-change platforms and early reporting systems.

He asserted coordinated execution across Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh could convert prisons into structured rehabilitation-centres rather than retention spaces, adding that custodial settings “must reflect dignity, opportunity and measurable renewal”.