Even though prisons are supposed to be viewed as ‘correctional facilities’, used to rehabilitate prisoners to contribute positively to society, prisons across the world are a low-priority concern. Governments, especially those strapped for cash, provide the least they can and neglect the prisons department, its staff, infrastructure and buildings, while paying scant attention to the rights and conditions of the prisoners. Equally, society grudges expenditure or attention given to people perceived as undeserving wrongdoers, especially in a country where millions of poor barely subsist.

In August 2005, the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) completed a study on Andhra Pradesh’s prison visiting system and submitted it to the government with practical recommendations for its improvement—including emphasis on the potential of the prison-visiting system to improve conditions of the prisoners, drastically.

This triggered a series of steps taken by various agencies for reviving and improving the near moribund system as well as taking other steps for improved governance in prisons. As part of its engagement with the subject, CHRI also organized a series of workshops focused on the prison visiting system, its legal mandate, practical implementation, reality and possibilities for prison visitors and senior prison officers.

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