CIVIL LIBERTIES Over-crowding It was observed that undertrials constitute 84.4 per cent of the total population of the jail. Construction was in progress of three additional prisons in the Tihar complex and a District Jail at Rohini, in North Delhi. The Delhi Administration has proposed the construction of nine additional prisons and an Open Jail as measures necessary to finding a permanent solution to the problem of overcrowding. The Commission recommended to the Government of the NOT of Delhi that staff sanctioned for the new jails imder construction be recruited and properly trained well before these jails are commissioned so as to avoid any delay in shifting the inmates to the new premises. Organisational Problems A cadre review of the staff of the Central Jail, Tihar, should be undertaken by the Government of NCT of Delhi in order to provide adequate promotional avenues to the permanent staff posted therein, to prevent stagnation and to keep their morale high. Vocational Training The Commission noted with satisfaction the scope and diversity of the vocadonal training being imparted to the inmates and the professional maimer in which the jail industries are being run. However, the Commission was of the view that the actual number of convicts (14 per cent) associated with these activities was very low. The hope was expressed that the commitment made by the ADG (Prisons) to the effect that the number of persons engaged in these trades would be raised from 250 to 700 within the current year would be fulfiled. The Commission also recommended the linking of the Jail Factory Wages to the MinimiunWage Rates in force in the NCT of DelhL Payment of Wages for All lypes of Labour It was observed that the convicts employed on prison duties such as gardening, cleaning of toilets, maintenance of campus and office work were not being paid any wages, although wages for physical work were admissible for cooking and factory jobs. It was recommended that inmates assisting the jail administration in the other work should also be paid nominal wages in accordance with the current rates. Parole The report observed that the powers of grantingparole to the convicts in emergencies resulting from death or serious illness in the family are highly centralised. The Commission recommended that these powers be delegated to the DIG/IG (Prison) and even the Superintendent of the Jail in cases of emergency, as is the practice in most of the other jails. ANNUAL REPORT 2000-2001 33