Bhubaneswar, Aug 31 (PTI) : The Odisha directorate of prisons has proposed the state government to allow it to fit GPS-enabled tracking devices on the ankles of undertrial prisoners (UTPs) and free them of the four walls of prisons.
DG (prisons) Manoj Chhabra said if the proposal is accepted and implemented, Odisha will be the first state in the country to free UTPs involved in non-heinous crimes.
Stating that overcrowding was the biggest problem in jails across the country including Odisha, Chhabra said about 80 per cent of prison inmates were UTPs. Many of them were lodged in jails even though they were caught in offences having provision of less than seven years imprisonment.