Auro Model Prison

VISION AND MISSION OF AURO MODEL PRISON 

Pondicherry Auro Model Prison

Punishing the offenders is the primary function of all civil societies of the world. Prisons are known to have existed throughout the history. It was believed from beginning that rigorous isolation and custodial measures would reform the prisoners. Experience however depicts that this expectation and often imprisonment had the significant opposite effect. With the development of behavioural sciences, fields of sociology, social and cultural anthropology, psychology, law, psychiatry and political science, it became increasingly clear that reformation of offenders was not possible by detention alone.

There are quite a large number of offenders who are otherwise well behaved and are persons of respectable class of society but they fall prey to criminality on account of unavoidable circumstances, momentary impulsiveness or due to provocation. There is yet another class of inmates who are otherwise innocent but have to bear the tortures of prison life due to miscarriage of justice. Obviously, such persons find it difficult to adjust themselves to the prison ecosystem and find life inside the prison most torturing, appalling and disgusting.

Sri Aurobindo Society’s ‘Auro Model Prison’

 Vision

‘Puthiya Nambikkai’ (New Hope) depicts the vision of ‘Auro Model Prison’ to transform the complete jail ecosystem and reduce prison population, improve culture and conditions, increase transparency, include various reformative & rehabilitative activities  and bolster prospects for successful social reintegration using scientific research tools, follow up programs, creating social awareness, inculcating life skills, planning and executing meticulous preventive measures, conducting regular and holistic counselling and  ensure that prisons are renamed as Repentance Retreat Centres. 

Mission

Establish rehabilitation and reformative activities to ensure the amelioration of victims, jail authorities, families of victims and offenders. Sri Aurobindo society shall attain these goals by conducting need-based training, creating sensitivity in government authorities, facilitating empowerment, implementing best practices from all over the world, using scientific research tools, conducting regular and holistic counselling and using networking and social media to ensure increased and quantified efficiency and effectiveness for Prison Ministry of India

We are reminded of Sri Aurobindo's emphatic declaration “That in his ignorance he found the company of holy men and places wearisome, but when put in prison, he found God”. The real purpose of sending criminals to prison is to transform them into honest and law-abiding citizens by inculcating in them a distaste for crime and criminality. But in actual practice, the prison authorities try to bring about reformation of inmates by use of force and compulsive methods. One of the fundamental objectives of this spiritual initiative of Sri Aurobindo Society is to ensure profound rehabilitation and re-entry into the society of people who are imprisoned, based on a deeper spiritual approach. Educational and vocational classes with spiritual approach will be extensively imparted to bring effectiveness in prison reform.