Bhopal/Gandhinagar: The Madhya Pradesh Prison department and Rashtriya Raksha University (RRU) on Friday signed an institutional agreement to strengthen correctional administration and develop structured mental health support for people in custody, including plans to establish Psychosocial Care Centres in state prisons.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and an Accreditation and Affiliation Agreement were signed at Jail Headquarters in Bhopal on August 20 under the leadership of RRU Vice-Chancellor Bimal Patel and Madhya Pradesh Director General of Jail and Correctional Services, Varun Kapoor.
The agreements follow earlier training initiatives between the two institutions and are intended to create a longer-term framework for academic certification, research, training and rehabilitation in the correctional system.
The partnership will include accreditation and affiliation of programmes, specialised training for correctional personnel, research on correctional administration, mental health and rehabilitation, and sharing of facilities and expertise.
It will also provide opportunities for students, researchers and faculty to undertake internships, fieldwork and experiential learning with correctional personnel.
A key component of the agreement is the proposed establishment of Psychosocial Care Centres in Madhya Pradesh prisons, in alignment with the Model Prisons and Correctional Services Act, 2023, and the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017.
The institutional arrangement follows an in-principle approval given by the Madhya Pradesh Jail Headquarters in April for establishing a Psychosocial Care Centre.
The modalities were subsequently discussed at RRU’s Lavad-Gandhinagar campus in May.
The collaboration had already moved into implementation through Project PRAHARI — Psychological Risk Assessment, Health Awareness and Resilience Initiative.
From July 6 to 12, the first cohort at the Regional Jail Management and Research Institute in Bhopal trained 30 correctional staff to identify psychological distress and risk indicators, conduct risk triage, handle crisis communication and de-escalation, follow documentation and referral procedures, and protect themselves against vicarious trauma and burnout.
Varun Kapoor said the latest agreements represented a shift from an individual training programme to a permanent institutional relationship.
“Correctional personnel, because of their close contact with people in custody, are well placed to identify early signs of psychological distress, risky behaviour and substance dependence,” he added.
He said that giving accredited academic certification to such training would strengthen the professional standing of the correctional cadre and improve the quality of care in prisons.
Kapoor also expressed confidence that the proposed Psychosocial Care Centres would provide structured psychosocial support to people in custody who remain unidentified or underserved.
The partnership builds on RRU’s recent work with Madhya Pradesh prison personnel.
A similar PRAHARI programme has also been conducted for correctional staff in Gujarat, with the initiative focusing on early identification of psychological distress, crisis response, timely referral, suicide and self-harm prevention, and staff resilience.
(IANS)
