A convict in jail of Jharkhand has three types of wages that he earns. If the convict is a skilled one his wages is Rs 46 per day. If the convict is a semi skilled his wages is Rs 28 a day. And for an unskilled convict the wages is just Rs 14 a day.
This is how reads a letter of the State Home department Government of Jharkhand (No: 1270/ Ranchi dated February 13, 2014 and The Pioneer has a copy of it)
A member of the Jharkhand Victim Welfare Fund Rules 2014, KK Jha who is the secretary of the Palamu district legal services authority said 'the wages, like Rs 46, Rs28 and Rs 14 a day to the convict, has been devised by the State Government'.
Asked that this wages is the lowest of wages in the world Jha said 'A convict in jail is taken care of by the Government. His lodging, his food, his medicine etc all are met by the Government'. Jha added "No under trial is put to work and earn wages in a jail. It is the convict who is to work and earn wages".
And now the wages that a convict earns is to be shared. One third wages of a convict is to be given to the victim or to the victim family or to the inheritor of the victim said the Home department's letter. The convict will have to be contented with just two third earned wages of him.
The one third wages of a convict will be deposited with the Victim Welfare Fund account which will be opened in any nationalised bank and which will be operated only by the concerned jail superintendent .
The one third earned wages of a convict will go to the victim, family or inheritor only on the release of the convict from the jail. And for this a victim, family or inheritor will have to present a claim reads the letter of the Home department.
KK Jha said "All informants of the FIR may not be the victim and all the victims may not be the informants”. An Informant may be one who is not at all a victim but someone in his family may be the worst victim of the crime for which conviction of the accused comes. The victim, the family or the inheritor is to be found out for this sharing of one third of wages of the convict.
The Home department letter reads that a victim, family or inheritor may decline to take the one third wages of the convict but for this too the refusal is to come in writing.
The central jail Daltonganj has at present 82 convicts of all three types unskilled, semi skilled and skilled. The jail superintendent will send a report of Victim Welfare Fund every three months to the IG Prisons of the state Jharkhand who will then forward the same to the Home department.