NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION, INDIA » The office of welfare officers must be strengthened and all vacancies must be filled. The roles and responsibilities of welfare officers could be bifurcated into two: One, focusing on the regular welfare activities of the inmates and second, focusing on facilitating their rehabilitation and proper reintegration into the society. » Welfare Officers must be encouraged to develop better ties with NGOs and other agencies outside the prison and explore various avenues available in the society to help rehabilitation and reintegration of released prisoners. » Skill enhancement programs and vocational programmes introduced in the prison must be sensitive to the changes taking place outside the society. » A separate cell of probation officers could be created within the existing system » Probation system must be strengthened with more manpower and additional resources. A support system comprising of social work/ counseling professionals must be set up in every district to provide support to probation officers and the smooth functioning of the system. In Kerala probation assistants are appointed on an ad-hoc basis to help probation officers and this is a welcome step and can be replicated in other places as well. » Half-way-homes must be set up to accommodate released prisoners for a specific time who face difficulty in adjusting with their release after prolonged years of incarceration. Such homes must function as active spaces that facilitate the transition of the prisoner’s life from the prison to the society. » The executive staff of the prison must be provided with sufficient training in criminology, social work and counseling so that they have a more comprehensive understanding of their roles and duties and the prison as a correctional institution. » The government is yet to come up with a rehabilitation policy of released prisoners either at the Centre or at the state level. In the absence of such a comprehensive policy, there cannot be any concerted and well thought-out initiatives from the states in this direction. 4.23 An Empirical Study on the Status of Undertrial Prisoners in Gujarat Central Jails i. The Commission approved a research proposal titled ‘An Empirical Study on the Status of Undertrial Prisoners in Gujarat Central Jails’ by Prof. (Dr.) Purvi Pokhariyal, Director, Institute of Law, Nirma University, Ahmedabad, Gujarat on 14.09.2018. The duration to complete the research project is nine months with a financial assistance of Rs.1,15,000/-. ii. The area/coverage of study: Four major Gujarat Jails: Sabarmati Central Jail, Vadodara Central jail, Rajkot Central jail & Lahore Central Jail (Surat). iii. Purpose of study: To conduct an empirical research study on the status of under-trial prisoners in the prisons with focus on their health, growing number of suicide and ANNUAL REPORT 2019-20 45