Members of Alliance University Legal Services Clinic (AULSC), Alliance School of Law had the opportunity to visit prison and correctional services at the Central Prison in Bengaluru. The team that visited the facility included student members of the Clinic along with faculty coordinators; Prof. Mahantesh, Prof. Upankar and Prof. Gyanashree.

As the name suggests, correctional services facility at the prison aims at providing rehabilitation to the prisoners. The correctional services at the prison have facilities such as a fully functional library, a well-equipped hospital, music room, lecture halls for education purposes, recreational facilities such as; crafts room, bakery, sports facilities, tailoring, etc. There is a nursery facility for children of convicts and undertrial people below the age of six, so that the interest of children in such situations could be protected.

The members of the clinic made some wonderful observations about the prison inmates who have got life-changing training as part of correctional services. The team came across a prison inmate with an engineering background who has developed a butter milk machine that is currently installed at the kitchen of Bengaluru Central Prison.

A very interesting part of the prison was the meditation conducted daily for an hour for the betterment and mental health of prison inmates. The other was ensuring nutritionally rich food plan for the inmates that also factored in their diversity. Another unique feature supported by Mindtree and Radio City Bengaluru is the Bengaluru Central Prison FM. The FM channel run by the prison inmates has music content being telecasted in languages like Kannada, Hindi, English, and Urdu.

The Bengaluru Central Prison is well-maintained and does not raise concerns about right to life with dignity for prison inmates. Also, it was noted that convicts or undertrial people aging between 18-21 years are kept separately and are given more recreational methods to help in the rehabilitation process. Overall, the visit was a wholesome experience and an educational acumen for the law students.