In a major move to tackle the financial issues of prisoners who cannot afford their bail, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has allocated Rs 5 crore in the 2025-26 budget for giving financial aid to these prisoners. This is one of the ongoing steps taken by the government to make the legal and correctional system better and to treat all individuals equally, regardless of their financial status.
Aim of the Scheme
This scheme shall come to benefit inmates who can afford to post bails and fail to pay bails mainly because of money issues. Centre’s move has ensured that some individuals remain incarcerated just because they are unable to post bails hence solving some issues of congestion in prisons.
Implementation under Model Prisons and Correctional Services Act, 2023
The financial aid is a part of the overall reforms that have been initiated under the ‘Model Prisons and Correctional Services Act’ of 2023. Under these reforms, State Legal Services Authorities have set up Legal Service Clinics in jails. The clinics provide free legal aid to those who cannot afford it with the assistance of empanelled Legal Services Advocates and trained Para-Legal Volunteers.
Previous Allocation and Issues
In the budget of the last year, the Centre had made a provision of Rs 20 crore for this scheme. The Centre, however, has so far not seen much cases presented by the states and union territories for clearance under the scheme and thus has seen only Rs 1 crore used. It now hopes that this time around the Rs 5 crore provision made in the present budget will be fully utilized.
Implementation Guidelines
The Ministry of Home Affairs had issued communication last year to the states and UTs to open special accounts for smooth flow of funds. The states were also empowered and mandated to set up Empowered Committees at the district level to evaluate and permit financial aid for eligible prisoners.
In addition, nodal officers had to be designated by states for coordination with the Central Nodal Agency, namely NCRB, so that the exercise would be effective.
The committees at the district level, backed by District Legal Services Authorities and prison authorities, would be able to sanction funds as required to make the payments towards bail or fines, under guidelines issued by the Centre.
This will be important to reduce the prison overcrowding and ensure the law works impartially for the citizen. Financial support to all those prisoners unable to pay their bail amount to Rs 5 crore is vital in this reform of the Centre. The access of justice would improve for economically disadvantaged people because of the Legal Service Clinics established by the Centre and also because of the financial support extended by the Centre.