Mental Health and Prisoners’ Access: A training workshop for prison officials

DECEMBER 14-15 / 2017

The workshop held on 14th and 15th December, 2017 was organised by the National Law University, Delhi in collaboration with the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D). The workshop was designed with the aims that included familiarizing and enabling the prison officials to deal with the breadth of various mental health concerns that they encounter in prisons, to discuss mental health concerns stemming from working in prisons and coping mechanisms for prison officials, to create a space for discussion on bringing the Model Prison Manual 2016 into practice and facilitate sharing of best practices experiences from different prisons across India.

The training workshop was attended by Superintendents and Welfare Officers of Central Jails from across 12 states. Using the Model Prison Manual 2016 and the Mental Health Care Act 2017, the workshop focused on issues of mental health and prisoners’ access to education, medical facilities, employment, facilities for rehabilitation, and access to lawyers.