India’s burgeoning population is, of late, being felt in its jails as well. Yes, for past few months, the number of prison inmates have been increasing like never before. Gracing the list are Category A VIPs: cabinet ministers (Suresh Kalmadi, A Raja) MPs (Kanimozhi, Amar Singh) and super, stinking rich mining and IT barons (Janardan Reddy, Satyam Raju).
I was trying to find out how these rich crooks are treated in the jails. At least one media report (Tehelka) confirmed what I always suspected: they are getting special treatment, sometimes by paying bribes, other times just for being what they are: powerful crooks.
As I read this, I picture came before my eye: groups of children, some of them as young as 8 year old, locked behind bars along with hardcore criminals. They are minor law offenders, rotting in jail, because the state had no money to provide a juvenile home.
I am talking of Arunachal Pradesh – a state in the North east India.
