I am in need of prison management system

Abstract

The Prisons Management Systems (PRISMS), a landmark e-governance initiative of Goa government has not only been pioneering but also influential in many such initiatives in other states as far as automation and efficiency of Prisons management is concerned. PRISMS is an effective ICT-enabled prison administration and management system with the objective of providing an easy effective and efficient mechanism benefiting the prisoners and the concerned prison department. This case study aims to bring forth the importance of Government Process reengineering (GPR) in the context of implementing ICT systems and the resultant benefits to stakeholders.

The period prior to implementation of PRISMS was marked by multiple complexities and hurdles including manual based time consuming process, human errors, insufficient security due to time consuming record keeping, difficulty in managing visitors, faulty calculation of correct remission and release dates, delay in application process, negligence of records and so on. The shortcomings fostered corrupt and inefficient administration and compromised constitutional rights of prisoners and the rule of law.

Post PRISMS, implementation has weeded out key limitations of prisons management in Goa resulting in drastic improvements in prison administration and in the lives of the prisoners. Whereas PRISMS has emerged as a source of tremendous positive change among the stakeholders, it has also established its sustainability on the basis of being cost-effective.

However, PRISMS has had its own share of challenges and limitations; for example, difficulty in motivating the staff in the new system, system design and deployment with 23 diverse modules, network building, and ensuring system foolproof and monitoring.
The objective of the case study is to analyze PRISMS, implemented in jails and judicial lock-ups all over Goa by the Office of the Inspector General of Prisons. The analysis is divided into 5 major sections and focuses on a detailed analysis of the pre-implementation state of the project, the current status with respect to the proper functioning and benefits provided by the system, challenges and lessons learnt during the implementation phase. In terms of methodology, secondary as well as primary data was collected, including interviews of representative stakeholders, namely the office of the Inspector General of Prisons, GEL – the agency that designed and implemented the solution, the prison management staff, and the officers working with the system as well as the prisoners. The findings arrived through this case study point towards the positive impact of e-governance programs with regard to integrated and holistic prison management.

Keywords

PRISMS, prison management, e-governance, web-based application, efficient administration, parole, compensation, Goa Electronics Limited, ICTD, Smart Government, India, Automation, GPR.

Project Background

Prison management is a daunting task and especially when the numbers are too high to handle, resources are minimal to manage and there is lack of trained manpower to manage pressures and crisis situations. In case of Goa, two major set of challenges were identified in relation to prison affairs management. One challenge was from the prison administration perspective. The manual prison administration was plagued by ills of a traditional administrative and management structure. These included time consumption process, human errors in administering records and registers of prison inmates, and management hurdles in compilation and analysis of data due to lack of data and information accuracy. For example, the manual visitor’s management could not track photographs of visitors, fingerprints taken were not recorded, difficulty to track the previous convictions of the inmates with regard to other trials pending and so on. Remission, release and bail calculations were extremely time consuming and prone to data and information errors. Human errors in information and data management amounted to 40 % to 50 % of total defaults. Overall, the impact from these was no less disturbing. Sharing of accurate data and information within the department and other stakeholders was a problem. Right decisions at right time could not be taken when needed. The challenge was “rule of law” could not be successfully implemented.



The bigger challenge was in record management of no less than 23 activity functions related to prison and prisoners. These included areas like prisoners information, court related information, remission management, prisoner admission and release, detention of under-trials, prisoners work allotment and monitoring, prisoners medical management, victim compensation, parole and furlough management, prison reforms, and so on. The manual system had failed to keep timely, updated records of all these activities. There was negligence, worn out and casual attitude in managing records in all these critical areas.

The other set of challenge was from the prisoners’ perspective. This has to do with uneasiness and insecurity in the minds of the prisoners related to appropriate justice by the system in various aspects including parole, remission, release, emoluments etc. The old structure and functions led prisoners to view strongly that the system “was all about fraud and malpractices.” The perception among life convict prisoners, which accounts to 10-15 % of total, was that they would never be released from jail though prisoners sentenced for life do have the right to be considered for release after a period of 14 years of prison term. The reason blamed for this was lack of accurate information and record.

management of remission calculations. Further, insecurity was related to wages earned by the prisoners. Prisoners felt they were left in the dark on the money they have earned and felt “cheated” by prison officials.

Challenges

Time consuming process
Human errors in administrative records and registers of prison inmates
Management hurdles in compilation and analysis of data
Information inaccuracy
The problem was also related to parole. There was delay in parole which was due to lack of efficient record management and an alert system that failed to keep dates with court hearing and resultant release of prisoners. One pathological impact was applications would be kept pending for more than a year. The parole surrender days were often forgotten within the manual system. There had been situations wherein the administration “only after month realized that the guy has run away”. In addition, during the pre implementation period the victim compensation fund was not implemented and “nobody knew about the rules”. The poor management and operational system under the traditional framework also had problems in managing court cases, health status, under trial detention, prisoner work allotment and monitoring, prisoners’ movement, and so on. All these happened due to the acute absence of a transparent information and communication system that connects the front end with the backend processes of prison management.

Project Description

According to the Times of India “Goa does not have a prison on the lines of a modern structure”, however, the Goa Prisons Department proved the statement wrong by launching the initiative, Prison Management System (PRISMS) in 2008 and received the e-governance award for excellence on many platforms. Within the layout of a modern day needs and problem solving using ICTs, the office of the Goa Inspector General of Prisons decided to develop and deploy a one stop solution to all the problems related to prison management. The core idea is to “streamline the administration and make it efficient to serve not only jail authorities but also prisoners” (Times of India 2009).

From the inception the management wanted the development of the software to be inclusive, involving the prison officers in the process of software development, since “it is people who shall make the difference”.

In the process, Goa became the first state in India, which has opted for a centralized jail monitoring system covering the entire state. The system, according to Goa Electronics Limited (GEL), the company which developed the software for the project, has installed “networks in all five jails in Goa and is additionally supported by video conferencing facilities between the jails”. It provides real-time information on all aspects of jail management including “inmate personal property, visitor activity, mental and medical health information, inmate movement in and out the facility, case and crime information, remission, parole, and furlough”.

PRISMS, launched in May 2008, completed in February 2009 is envisaged to guarantee the effective implementation of the “3 aspects of prison administration” which involve catering to the optimal management of the prisoners by the jail authorities while maintaining and maximizing the existing security standards within the facilities in accordance with the Prison Act of 1900 and the Goa Prison Rules and the Prison Manual of 2006.

The three-tier PRISMS architecture is designed as a centralized data base and application, with real time operation at the point of 100% implementation across all jails, judicial lockups and prison departments. It is hosted by the National Informatics Centre (NIC) data centre with coverage aimed at a 24/7 availability in all government offices, jails and judicial lockups connected through the Goa-net and accessible to all government employees through individual access. PRISMS operate as a module based system with touch screen kiosks which are easily accessible to prisoners. The technology consisting of hardware, software and platform elements is implemented at Central Jail Aguada, Sub Jail Sada, Judicial Lockup Mapusa and the Inspector General of Prisons Office in Panaji.

Efforts went into technology design and implementation. The software, implemented for example, automatically calculates the probable date of release of prisoners with details of the remission earned. It also calculates wages, attendance and remittance towards the common victim compensation fund, expenditure for legal services, savings and day-to-day expenses. The application aims at ensuring a user friendly design with the goal to facilitate system wide integration to increase efficiency and ensuring uniform services. It seeks to avoid redundant data entry using the framework of a modular design to cater to the specific needs of each agency whereby the software is configurable for an unlimited number of users.

Objectives

The overall objective of PRISMS was to scale up prison governance by ensuring a transparent, user friendly, problem solving, and friendly and trustworthy prison management system across Goa.

Otherwise, the PRISMS practice was initiated with the following key objectives:

To deliver a fully functional system that delivers close to 100% efficiency in prisons management in Goa using ICTs; that delivers holistic functionalities in covering all aspects of prison management from the admission to the release of the prisoner and connectivity across jails; brings in administrative efficiency and security; leads to prisoner empowerment and victim compensation; increases efficiency of prison management process and administrational stuff; improves administrational functionality of Inspector General of Prison’s Department.
To bring in transparency and efficiency in an otherwise secrecy driven system; the use of technology is supposed to bring about transparency in the system and foster the process of precise implementation of rules and laws, make data easily available to the authorities concerned, and to facilitate efficient and accurate decision making through improvised information and communication flow.
To bring in maximum accuracy in the prison management in all key functional and operational areas; to overcome the manual system in the process of remission that revolves around numbers, figures, mathematicsand calculations that have to be very accurate; to an application which supports the jail staff working in the prisons with efficient record keeping and make the work profile of staff much easier and smooth in day-to-day administrative work.