Haryana's Transformative Approach: Community Service Over Incarceration
Haryana introduces Community Service Guidelines 2025 to reform the criminal justice system. The policy allows first-time petty offenders to serve communities instead of jail time. This shift focuses on rehabilitation over punishment, aiming to reduce overcrowded prisons and foster social responsibility.
- Country:
- India
The Haryana government has launched the Community Service Guidelines 2025, a policy shifting focus from punitive measures to rehabilitation in dealing with certain first-time petty crime offenders. Instead of serving jail time, eligible individuals are given socially constructive tasks, marking a significant change in the state's criminal justice approach.
This reform, rooted in the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), signals a global trend toward prioritizing rehabilitation over retribution, gaining momentum among progressive legal systems worldwide. Additional Chief Secretary Sumita Misra, who played a pivotal role in crafting these guidelines, emphasized the intent to utilize offences as opportunities for transformation rather than downplaying their seriousness.
Offenders may engage in activities like planting trees, assisting in rural health centers, or maintaining heritage sites, matched based on capabilities to ensure both community benefit and personal growth. With overcrowded indian prisons as a major issue, this policy change aims to alleviate the burden on correctional facilities while bringing tangible improvements to communities.
(With inputs from agencies.)
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