CIVIL LIBERTIES The seminar was attended by eight Directors General of Prisons/Inspectors General of Prisons and seven District and Sessions Judges from the States of Bihar, Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh andWest Bengal. The seminar was inaugurated by the Chairperson, NHRC, and the resource persons included Dr Kiran Bedi, Joint Commissioner of Police, Delhi, Dr Hira Singh, former Director, National Institute of Social Defence (NISD) and Dr Mrs Ram Shankar Das, Secretary, Penal Reforms and Justice Association (PRAJA). The issues discussed in the seminar included the problems of undertrials, UN Guidelines and Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, recommendations of the All India Committee on Jail Reforms and a Draft Prison Bill, directives/guidelines of the Supreme Court regarding condidons in jails, and the initiatives of the NHRC to improve jail conditions. 6) Orientation Course for Prisons Officials of Gujarat 3.58 An orientation course for Jail Superintendents of Gujarat was held at Ahmedabad on 16-17 October 2000, which was attended by the Superintendents of all the 22 jails in Gujarat. In addition to deliberating on the problems of prisoners, the working and living conditions of the prison staff were also discussed. The Minister for Jails, Gujarat took a keen interest in the programme and engaged in a very frank and useful interaction with the participants. He assured them that his Government would initiate action promptly on the problems highlighted in the interaction. 7) New Prison Bill 3.59 The Commission is pursiung its recommendation, made to the various States/Union Territories, to draft a new Prison Bill and Jail Manual and to bring these in line with contemporary thinking on the subject. The Commission has noted with satisfaction that the Govenmient of Jammu and Kashmir has revised its jail manual, incorporating most of the provisions of the Draft Indian Prison Bill 1996, which the Commission had prepared and circulated to States/Union Territories for consideration. The Commission has, in addition, received a Draft Bill prepared by the Government of Rajasthan for its comments. It urges the remaining States/Union Territories to take appropriate action in this regard and to inform the Commission of the steps they are taking. ANNUAL REPORT 2000-2001 29