The government of Rajasthan has amended the Rajasthan Prison Rules to eliminate caste-based labor allocation. According to a notice issued earlier this month, the state government made three amendments to these rules. The amendments come after the Rajasthan High Court learned suo motu of a media report on prevailing caste practices in prisons.
Previously, Rule 67 on “Cooking of food” in Section 2 stated that “any sufficiently high caste Brahmin or Hindu prisoner of this class is eligible to be appointed a cook”. Now, this line is among those deleted. A new line has been included in Rule 67: “No inmate shall be selected to cook on the basis of his caste or religion.”
Similarly, part of a section dealing with ‘Restrictions on the employment of convicts as merchants’ had previously read that “the barber will be an unusual prisoner. Sweepers shall be chosen from among those who, by custom of the district in which they reside or by having adopted the profession, carry out sweeper work when they are free. Any other person can also volunteer to carry out this work, in no case, however, a person who is not a street sweeper will be obliged to carry out the work ”. This paragraph has now been replaced to read: “No merchant will be chosen on the basis of his caste or religion.” Clause (d) of Rule 27 of Section 1, Part 15, which included the definition of habitual offender as “any member of a criminal tribe subject to the discretion of the Government” has also been deleted.
The high court had learned of a report by The Wire on the caste practices that prevail in the prisons of different states of India.
.
She is a freelance blogger, writer, and speaker, and writes for various entertainment magazines.