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Chief Justice of India, Justice Surya Kant, inaugurated Skill Development Centres, ITI-level vocational programmes and Polytechnic diploma courses inside Haryana's prisons under the State's "Empowering Lives Behind Bars" initiative on Saturday. The launch ceremony at District Prison, Bhondsi, marked a significant shift toward education-driven rehabilitation across correctional facilities.
The CJI also launched a month-long Anti-Drug Awareness Campaign across Punjab, Haryana, and the Union Territory of Chandigarh, aimed at combating escalating substance abuse through coordinated community outreach. Speaking at the event, Justice Surya Kant emphasised that reintegration must be a structured, planned process rather than a matter of chance. He proposed district-level reintegration boards comprising probation officers, industry partners, civil society and mental health professionals to guide inmates transitioning back into society. Highlighting the vulnerabilities of migrant workers, he called for simplified bail procedures, multilingual legal support and better documentation assistance. The CJI underlined the need for psychological rehabilitation alongside vocational skills, stressing the importance of trauma-informed counselling, addiction treatment and emotional support systems within prisons. He urged aligning training with future economic demands, encouraging partnerships in which industries adopt prisoners, provide apprenticeships, and hire trained inmates. Innovative concepts such as monitored open-jail models, similar to those piloted abroad, were cited as examples of humane reform. Supreme Court Judges Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah, Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justice Augustine George Masih, along with Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice Sheel Nagu, also addressed the gathering, a Haryana government release said. They collectively underscored the acceptance of reformed individuals, the humanisation of incarceration, and the creation of employment pathways as pillars of sustainable reform. Haryana Chief Secretary Anurag Rastogi assured full implementation of the recommendations, noting that skill development in prisons and drug-prevention programmes together form a comprehensive public safety strategy. Senior officials from the judiciary, the administration, and the prison department were present at the ceremony. With ITI courses in trades such as computer operations, welding, plumbing, and dressmaking, and a three-year Polytechnic Diploma in Computer Engineering, Haryana aims to equip inmates with employable skills and reduce recidivism, recasting prisons as centres of learning, dignity, and second chances. (ANI)
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