32 prisoners with good conduct to be released from MP jails on Tribal Pride Day

Bhopal, Nov 14 (PTI) The Madhya Pradesh government will release 32 prisoners, including nine from tribal communities, for good conduct, on November 15 to mark Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas or Tribal Pride Day, officials said on Friday.

According to officials, this will be the first such initiative in the country to release prisoners on grounds of good behaviour while serving jail terms.

The birth anniversary of tribal icon Birsa Munda on November 15 is celebrated as Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas.

Talking to PTI, Dr Deepmala Rawat, a subject expert in the Governor's tribal cell, said the release is an initiative by Governor Mangubhai C Patel, who also belongs to the tribal community.

He convened a meeting of prison department officials, after which a proposal was sent to the state cabinet for remissions of prisoners with good conduct, and it was approved.

"With this move, Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas has become the fifth occasion after Republic Day, Independence Day, Gandhi Jayanti and Ambedkar Jayanti on which prisoners with good conduct will be released in Madhya Pradesh," she said.

Rawat said the November 15 release will also benefit convicts who complete remission after Gandhi Jayanti, as they will no longer have to wait until Republic Day for release.

Additional Inspector General of Police (Prisons) Sanjay Pandey said no convict serving a sentence in cases of rape or the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) will be released.

No prisoner convicted in two separate murder cases will be freed, he added.

Pandey said that remissions apply only to convicts who have served more than 14 years of their life sentence and maintained good conduct.

Such convicts are lodged in 11 central jails across the state.

According to the 2011 census, Madhya Pradesh had more than 1.53 crore tribal people, accounting for 21.08 per cent of its population of more than 7.26 crore. In the upcoming enumeration, the state's population is projected to reach 8.5 crore, with the tribal population expected to cross two crore.

Madhya Pradesh has the highest tribal population among Indian states.

The state has taken several measures for the welfare of tribals, including the withdrawal of criminal cases against them in matters related to land encroachments, officials said.

As of March 2009, the government had withdrawn 87,549 registered forest offence cases against the Scheduled Tribes. Of the 35,807 cases registered in the past 10 years, 28,645 have been resolved, while 4,396 remain pending in courts, they added. PTI LAL ARU