Government of Bihar to hold Bandi Darbars in Jail for redressal of Complaints by Prisoners

Government of Bihar in the month of December announced that that it is going to hold bandi darbars in jails across the state for on-the-spot resolution of complaints by jail inmates related to food, health and other civic facilities.

As Per the new jail manual 2012, notified by the state government, the darbars is supposed to be held once in two months by the concerned district magistrates.

The basic motive behind holding such a darbar is to establish direct connect between the prisoners and the district magistrate who is the highest official at the district level.

The district magistrate would also identify old and helpless prisoners and provide them legal assistance for early release. The cases of prisoners afflicted with serious diseases would also be reviewed for early release.
The entire proceedings would be videographed and details would also be entered in the record book.

Another significant thing is that a grievance box would be kept in all the prisons in which inmates can drop their written complaints without the fear of inviting the anger of the superintendent of the concerned jail. The key of the box would be with the district magistrate who would open it during his visit for the 'bandi darbar'.

The Bihar Cabinet on 11 December 2012 approved the Jail Manual 2012 which would replace similar followed manual for the last 88 years which was formulated in 1924.

The new manual was suggested by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and was notified on 12 December 2012.

Bihar has a total of 56 jails - 8 central jails, 31 district jails and 17 sub jails. The total capacity of the jails was 33119 with 32027 male and 1092 women in 2010.