Tihar Prisons
| Location | New Delhi, India |
|---|---|
| Status | Open |
| Security class | Maximum |
| Capacity | 6250 |
| Opened | 1958 |
Tihar Prisons (Hindi: तिहाड़ क़ैदख़ाना,Telugu: తీహార్ జైలు,Kannada: ತಿಹಾರ ಜೈಲ್, Bengali: তিহাড় কারাগার, Tamil: திகார் சிறைகள் 'Tihāṛ Central Qaidkhānā'), also called Tihar Jail and Tihar Ashram (Hindi: तिहाड़ आश्रम), is the largest complex of prisons in South Asia. It is located at Tihar village, approximately 7 km from Chanakya Puri, to the west of New Delhi, India. The surrounding area is called Hari Nagar.
The prison is maintained as a Correctional Institution. Its main objective is to convert its inmates into normal members of the society by providing them with useful skills, education and rules. It is meant to improve the inmates' self-esteem and strengthen their desire to improve. Items manufactured by the inmates bear the brand Tihar.[1]As of November 2006[update], Tihar jail has almost 12,000 inmates against the sanctioned capacity of 5,200.[2]
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[edit] History
Originally it was a maximum security prison run by the State of Punjab. In 1966 control was transferred to the National Capital Territory of Delhi. Beginning in 1984 additional facilities were constructed, and it became the Tihar Prison.
While Kiran Bedi was the Inspector General of Prisons, and had the Tihar Prisons under her jurisdiction, she instituted a number of prison reforms, including changing the name to Tihar Ashram. She also instituted a Vipassana meditation program for both staff and inmates. The initial classes were given by S. N. Goenka. The Prison has yielded an inmate who has passed the Indian Administrative Service civil service examinations.[3]
[edit] Notorious inmates
- Satwant Singh and Kehar Singh, hanged for the assassination of Indira Gandhi.
- International serial killer Charles Sobraj escaped from Tihar on 16 March 1986, but was recaptured shortly thereafter, returned to the prison and sentenced to an additional ten years for the escape. He was released on completion of his term on 17 February 1997.
- Ripun Bora, education minister of Assam's Tarun Gogoi-led Congressional government, the main accused in the Daniel Topno murder case, was arrested by CBI officials on 3 June 2008 and sent to Tihar on 7 June 2008.[citation needed]
- 2G spectrum scamsters — including, A. Raja, M. K. Kanimozhi, Vinod Goenka, Shahid Balwa and Sanjay Chandra.[4]
- Suresh Kalmadi, former president of Indian Olympic Association, arrested for alleged corruption during 2010 Commonwealth Games.[4]
- Amar Singh, former member of Samajwadi Party, arrested for Cash-for-votes scandal.[5]
[edit] Notable inmates
- Anna Hazare, Arvind Kejriwal, Indian social activists fighting against corruption were arrested when trying to protest due to disagreement between Civil Society and UPA Government over an anti-corruption bill commonly called as Jan-Lokpal Bill and the government's Lokpal bill.
[edit] Health Concerns
The Integrated Counseling and Testing Centre reports that around 6% to 8% of the 11,800 Tihar inmates are HIV positive, which is considerably higher than the general population HIV rate in India.[6]
[edit] References
- ^ Mukharji, Arunoday (4 February 2007) "Brand Tihar is serious business" CNN-IBN
- ^ "Government takes steps to ease overcrowding in Tihar Jail". Press Information Bureau. 2006-12-05. http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=22824&kwd=. Retrieved 2009-08-19.
- ^ Relief to Tihar inmate after he makes it to IAS The Hindu, February 11, 2009
- ^ a b India's Powerful Can't Escape Jail, BusinessWeek, June 9, 2011
- ^ Cash-for-votes scam: Court sends Amar Singh to judicial custody till September 19,India Today, September 6, 2011
- ^ 340 HIV positive prisoners in Tihar
[edit] External links
