Jharkhand govt to release 56 convicts serving life terms

The state government on Wednesday decided to release 56 convicts serving life terms in various jails across the state, after reviewing a total of 109 cases.

The decision was taken in a meeting of the Jharkhand State Sentence Revision Board, chaired by Chief Minister Hemant Soren.

''Fifty-six prisoners serving life imprisonment in various jails of the state will be released… During the review, opinions of courts, superintendents of police of the districts concerned, jail superintendents and district probation officers were taken,'' a statement issued by the chief minister's secretariat said.

At this 30th meeting of the Board, Soren stressed the need for continuous tracking and monitoring of the released prisoners and directed authorities to work towards their proper rehabilitation, linking them with various government schemes so that they remain in the mainstream.

The statement said that the chief minister also asked the officials to link the elderly prisoners to the Universal Pension Scheme as often such prisoners were discarded by their families.

''In the meeting, the officials told the chief minister that till the 29th meeting of the Jharkhand State Sentence Revision Board, 1831 prisoners had been released,'' the statement said.

Since 2019, houses of 457 prisoners have been surveyed by district probation officers. Of them, 378 prisoners have been provided benefits of various government schemes, while the process of connecting others with government schemes is underway, the statement said.