(1) Voicing resentment or grievance is an elementary human instinct. If it is suppressed, it can lead to an aberrant frame of mind which will be detrimental to the natural and healthy growth of body and mind.
(2) The Grievance Redressal mechanism shall be as under, namely:-
(a) There shall be an active Grievance Redressal System (G.R.S.) in every prison which shall provide every inmate the legitimate opportunity to voice his grievances;
(b) The system shall also act as a safety valve against any possibility of sudden outbursts of suppressed grievances;
(c) There shall be one or more complaint boxes in every prison installed in centrally located and convenient places, within easy reach of the inmates and such complaint box shall also be installed in an easily accessible place in the female ward;
(d) The inmates may drop their complaints in the form of written petitions addressed to the Superintendent, or to the higher authorities, into such boxes;
(e) The box shall remain under lock and key and the key shall remain in the custody of the Jailor who shall unlock the complaint box at least twice a week on the days fixed and approved by the Superintendent;
(f) The complaint box shall be opened at appointed time before the evening locking up of the prison;
(g) The Superintendent shall form a permanent Committee of Grievance Redressal System (G.R.S.), comprising himself, the Jailor (the senior most Jailor in the event of more than one Jailor being posted there), the Medical Officer, and the Welfare Officer;
(h) If the prison happens to have a female enclosure then one lady officer, not below the rank of Jailor, shall be included in the committee;
(i) The committee shall meet as and when necessary, but at least once a week to look into all the complaints of the inmates;
(j) The Superintendent shall preside over the committee which shall enquire into all the complaints at the earliest;
(k) The decision of the committee shall be executed forthwith;
(l) Complaints addressed to the higher authorities shall be forwarded to the addressee with comments of the Superintendent without delay;
(m) Letters addressed by prisoners to the Government, Judiciary, Inspector General or other high functionaries shall be forwarded to them immediately without being censored and a dated receipt of it shall be भाग 4 (ग) राजस्ााू राज-पत्र दिसम् बर 12 2022 654 given to the prisoner and the receiving authority shall acknowledge letters immediately and look promptly into them; and
(n) The District Judge shall visit each prison in his jurisdiction once a month and give an opportunity to all the prisoners to present their grievances or requests, if they so desire, in the absence of prison offices and this shall be a statutory function of the District Judge.
(3) Three days before the meeting the Prison Officer should note down the grievance of the prisoners including under-trial Prisoners, if any, and put up the Grievance Register in the meeting along with the office notes or comments obtained from the relevant sections for discussion, the concerned prisoners shall be called to the meeting for personal hearing and all such grievances of the prisoners shall be heard, analyzed and solved as far as practicable.
(4) The Prisoner’s Grievances Register shall be maintained by the Jailor in the Central Jail or District Jails or Sub-Jails.