Jammu, Jan 22: All the jails in Jammu and Kashmir would be soon connected with the courts to facilitate video conferencing facility, allowing the judges to conduct trial of accused while sitting at their respective courts.
 As part of the centrally sponsored E-Court project, National Informatics Centre (NIC) has started a detailed survey of the requirements to implement the project. The report will be submitted to the Central Government for the final approval, highly placed sources said.
 They said that the State Government is showing keen interest in the project, keeping in view problems police face while shifting militants and hardcore criminals to courts for trial.
 “NIC has already asked its unit in the State to prepare a detailed report about the requirements and pinpoint possible problems they may face as the implementing agency”, officials said. The NIC has also been appointed as the implementing agency for the project, they added
 A senior officer said that recently a detailed meeting was held in New Delhi regarding the project and J&K was asked to select the people for handling the equipments. “There is need for a separate technical wing to run the project and they have to be imparted necessary training to handle it”, said an official.
 The project is being implemented in J&K, Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh as part of the modernisation plan for the jails and courts and speeding up the justice process.
 “It has been found that the detainees had to wait for a long period before they were produced in the trial courts. The reason was they had to be moved from distant places to the district headquarters where the courts exist, this will simplify the process”, officials said.
 Sources said that the Government of India plans to spend over Rs.500 crores on the rehabilitation of jail inmates over next decade.
 Pertinently few years ago, Government had decided to install E-attendance system in all the jails of the State for the daily attendance of the staff. Though the project was not fully implemented, but at some jails it is working. At many places, CCTV cameras have been installed to keep a watch on the inmates, many of them are local and foreign militants.
 “Between Rs 75 crores and Rs.100 crores are being spent under jails’ expansion and modernisation programme in JK at the moment”,   sources said.

Lastupdate on : Sun, 22 Jan 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
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