The Ministry of Culture has announced 7 new circles of Archaeological Survey of India. This information was shared by theUnion Minister of State for Culture and Tourism (IC), Shri Prahlad Singh Patel in a video message tweeted by him today. Shri Patel said that the Ministry of Culture has taken this step in accordance with the Prime Minister’s call to facilitate and strengthen the process of preservation and registration of archaeological monuments along with registration of artefacts with self declaration.The Minister informed that new circles have been created in Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, West Bengal and Gujarat. He said that Trichy, Raiganj, Rajkot, Jabalpur, Jhansi & Meerut have been announced as new circles. In Archaeology, the Hampi city in Karnataka is a place of international repute hence Hampi Mini Circle has been converted into a full fledged circle, The Minister added. Earlier there were 29 ASI circles across the country.

NITI Aayog will virtually launch the India Component of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC)–Transport Initiative for Asia (TIA) tomorrow, 27 August. 

GIZ Director, Division South Asia, Corinna Küsel, and Deputy Ambassador German Embassy, Stephan Grabherr, will open the event at 6 pm, followed by opening remarks by Dr Karsten Sach, Director General IK, International and European Policy, Climate Policy, Federal Ministry of the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU).

Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog, will deliver the keynote address, followed by a special address by Dr Young Tae Kim, Secretary General, International Transport Forum (ITF).

The event will inform the transport, energy, and climate stakeholders in India about planned project activities for the upcoming year. It will also offer the opportunity to provide input about India’s transport challenges and how they relate to CO2 reduction ambitions. The discussion will help focus the programme further on India’s specific needs and circumstances.

With the aim to promote a comprehensive approach to decarbonize transport inIndia, Vietnam, and China, NDC–TIA is a joint programme, supported by the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the German Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) and implemented by a consortium of seven organisations, namely:

1. Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH

2. International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT)

3. World Resources Institute (WRI)

4. International Transport Forum (ITF)

5. Agora Verkehrswende (AGORA)

6. Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport (SLoCaT) Foundation

7. Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century e.V. (REN21)

The India Component is implemented by six consortium organisations, all except SLoCaT. On behalf of the Government of India, NITI Aayog, the country’s premier policy think tank, will be the implementing partner.

The NDC-TIA programme has a duration of 4 years and will allow India and other partner countries to achieve accountable long-term targets by making a sectoral contribution through various interventions, coordinated with a large number of stakeholders in the domain. This will contribute towards achieving their NDCs and increasing their ambition in the transport sector of 2025 NDCs.

India has a massive and diverse transport sector that caters to the needs of billion people. It has the world’s second-largest road network, which contributes to maximum greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through all means of transportation. With increasing urbanisation, the fleet size i.e. the number of sales of vehicles is increasing rapidly. It is projected that the total number of vehicles will be doubled by 2030.

The NDC–TIA India Component will focus on establishing a multi-stakeholder dialogue platform for decarbonizing transport in India, strengthening GHG and transport modelling capacities, providing technical support on GHG emission reduction measures, financing climate actions in transport, offering policy recommendations on electric vehicle (EV) demand and supply policies, evaluating business models through cost-benefit analyses and so forth. 

A significant focus will be given on electric mobility, which would require coupling of transport and energy sectors and receiving cross-sectoral expertise from ministries, international development agencies, think tanks, public and private organisations. Ultimately, the programme intends to support the development of policies and regulations to promote electric vehicle charging infrastructure uptake and smooth widescale adoption of EVs in India. 

The NDC–TIA programme team will work in close cooperation and coordination with India’s government agencies, local decision-makers, researchers, industry experts, think tanks, and civil society organisations. The programme aims at high ambition in the transport sector directly supporting the country’s NDC targets. Successful implementation of these activities requires the political will and interest of political partners and relevant stakeholders in the target countries. Interaction of consortium members with relevant stakeholders in the course of existing programmes and discussions conducted during the scoping mission indicate a high commitment to programme objectives.

With an objective to realise Digital India’s vision of “Power to Empower” and to enable Digital Inclusion across the length and breadth of India, the National e-Governance Division (NeGD), Ministry of Electronics & IT (MeitY) has signed an MOU with CSC (Common Service Center) e Governance Services India Limited on August 26, 2020 to facilitate delivery of UMANG services at CSCs, in an assisted mode, thereby making services on UMANG app available to citizens through the network of3.75 lakh CSCs. The CSC operators Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLEs) will enable citizens to avail e-Governance services of 140 Departments through the UMANG App. This will benefit those citizens who either do not have access to smartphones or are not comfortable accessing App based e services on their own. For the masses, this will not only enhance access to government services significantly, but also expand the gamut of services that VLEs offer citizens, thereby increasing their income and viability. All these UMANG services are being enabled on CSCs without any additional cost and NeGD is making all services available to CSCs at zero cost.

Common Services Centres or CSCs, set up under the CSC Scheme of MeitY, are a strategic cornerstone of the Digital India programme and key access points for delivery of various electronic services to villages in India. UMANG (Unified Mobile Application for New-Age Governance) is the common unified platform for delivery of services of various Government Departments through the mobile platform. This invaluable synergy between UMANG and CSCs, will make available over 1000+services from 140 departments on the UMANG platform to CSCs. This will be of great advantage to the 140 departments connected on UMANG platform too, as their services will be delivered in an assisted mode now, in one go, without incurring any cost.

UMANG was developed by National e-Governance Division (NeGD), Ministry of Electronics & IT. It was dedicated to the Nation on November 23, 2017, by our Hon’ble Prime Minister. Within a short period of its successful implementation, the mobile app attainedfour illustrious awards including ‘Best m-Government service’ award at the 6^th World Government Summit held at Dubai, UAE in Feb 2018. The aim to develop UMANG has been to facilitate ease of access to major Government services for citizens from a single mobile app.

The UMANG Mobile app is available on Android, iOS, all web browsers platforms and select 57 services on KaiOS (available on Jio feature phones). The app can be downloaded by giving a missed call on 97183-97183 or by clicking on https://web.umang.gov.in/uaw/i/v/ref. UMANG has reached a level of more than 3.12 Crore downloads, with 2.05 Crore registered users while maintaining an average Play Store rating of ~4 from more than 100K users. Presently 1,011 services (294 from Central, 441 from State departments, 276 from Bill payments), from 70 Central departments, 71 State departments from 26 States are available on UMANG and the count is galloping ahead! UMANG has so far seen about 100 Crore service transactions and about 200 Crore Hits.

This significant alliance of UMANG and CSCs will empower lakhs of citizens in our country, especially during these unprecedented times, ensuring ease, convenience, and security. 

Is it possible to take a stroll on the sandy beaches of Goa, and roam around the dense forests of Jharkhand at the same time? Today’s webinar on ‘Weaving Cultural Threads: Goa and Jharkhand’ organised by Regional Outreach Bureau (Maharashtra, Goa & Jharkhand) together with Press Information Bureau (Goa & Ranchi), Ministry of Information & Broadcasting made it possible.

Goa and Jharkhand being ‘paired states’ under ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat’ Mission, the webinar focused on the diverse cultural heritage of these states with eminent speakers from both these states.

Eminent authors, scholars and artists from these states shared their views that bind these two states together.

Vivek Menezes, Author, curator and Photographer from Goa spoke about the uniqueness of India. “There is no other place in the world, where two diverse states like Goa and Jharkhand belong to the same nation. This is the beauty of India!” he said.

He also spoke about his memories of his childhood days spent in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand. “Despite the diversity, Goa and Jharkhand share a symbiotic relation. Many people from Jharkhand work in Goa. They are the backbone of our labour force. Goa’s economy is able to flourish because of the people from places like Jharkhand. Without them the Tourism Industry, Fishing Industry etc. wouldn’t be able to perform well.”

He enlisted many common things that both these states share including the biodiversity or forest cover  these states have, ancient art and rich cultural background.

Addressing the important role these two states play in preserving the rich heritage of the country, he suggested that both the states should be brought into main stream.

“The connections we are building through #EkBharatShreshthaBharat are important. This is the India, I want to live in!”, he added.

Eminent author from Jharkhand, Mahadev Toppo began his address by highlighting an interesting observation, about the survival methods shown in popular television reality shows which are actually a part of tribal life since ages.

Highlighting the contribution of tribal life in art and culture, Mahadev Toppo said  “Fashion, Fabric and jewellery across the world are inspired by the tribal life and indigenous people”

He also mentioned that besides having a plethora of minerals and the state is also rich in art and culture.

“The tribal life in Jharkhand values and believes in community living. It teaches us to coexist with the environment. Standing by these principle, people of Jharkhand celebrate Sarhul a festival during spring season in which we worship the mother earth”,  he said.

“We respect trees and jungles and worship our animals. Haryali Pooja is celebrated during the rainy season. As part of this festival, people stop visiting forests for a certain period of time so that new life among flora and fauna may flourish”, Toppo added.
 

Another speaker in the webinar, Giridhari Ram Gaunjhu, who was a Professor in Ranchi University, added to the rich heritage of community life of Jharkhand. He stated that “Jharkhand is a part of the Gondwanaland, and we have one of the oldest civilizations in the world”.

He spoke about the different communities who live in Jharkhand. There are 32 communities of which nine are primitive tribes. One such tribe called ‘Asura’ makes special iron weapons with unique anti rusting properties. He quoted an exponent of the regional music and Padma Shri. Dr. Ram Dayal Munda who had said,  “The world should learn from Jharkhand, the culture of Jharkhand teaches us sustainable development”.

Speaking about the rich flora of the state which is a part of the daily tribal life, he mentioned that traditional food of Jharkhand enhances immunity, which is a significant inspiration to the world during these tough times. “Several medicinal plants that the tribes have been using for years are getting recognition today” he added.
 

Additional Director General, PIB, Ranchi, Arimardan Singh Singh while addressing rhe webinar said “India is a land of diversity. While the state of Goa is situated on the sea shore Jharkhand is a landlocked state. Both these states have different climate, culture and lifestyle but there is an underlying unity’.

Media and Communication Officer, PIB Mumbai, Sriyanka Chatterjee moderated the enriching and engaging session.  Vinod Kumar, Deputy Director PIB Goa delivered the Vote of thanks.

The webinar was organised on the lines of ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat’ programme of the Government of India that celebrates the sentiment of ‘Unity in Diversity’.

The Minister Science and Technology, Earth Sciences and Health and Family Welfare, Dr Harsh Vardhan today said that “A robust Climate Risk management framework calls for a multi- level approach across the country (national, sub-national, regional and local) to determine the various climate change risks likely to impact the country while also providing a broad understanding of the loss and damage likely to be caused due to these risks”. He was delivering a special address as the Chief Guest at the three-day Conference on “S&T Research- Policy-Practice Interface for Climate Risk Management” jointly organized by National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) through video conferencing in New Delhi.

A National e-Assessment Centre (NeAC) and a network of Regional e-Assessment Centres will be set up to implement the Faceless Assessment Scheme of the Income Tax Department, launched nation-wide by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on 13^th August, 2020. The regional assessment network would comprise assessment units, verification units, technical units and review units. The system allows for dynamic jurisdiction, team-based working, and functional specialization and does away with human interface altogether. This was informed by the Principal Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, Mumbai, Shri Patanjali Jha, during a webinar on “Faceless Assessment Scheme and Virtual Court Hearings”, conducted by KPMG India.

Making a comparison between the faceless assessment system and the current system it replaces, the Principal Chief Commissioner explained how the new system is one designed for the 21^st century. There is no discretion in selection of assessment cases, while earlier, case selection used to happen manually. In place of single territorial jurisdiction, we now have automated random allocation of cases. While notices used to be issued both manually and on the system, issue of notices will now be done through a central mechanism (by NeAC) in electronic mode. There shall be no physical meetings between taxpayers and officers. Wide discretion and subjective assessment are being replaced by team-based assessment and a system wherein draft order is issued in one city, review is done in another city and finalization is done in yet another city. This thereby leads to an objective, fair and just assessment order, said the Principal Chief Commissioner.

Along with Pr. CCIT, Mumbai, Chief Commissioner of Income-Tax (ReAC) Mumbai, Smt. Lekha Kumar and Principal Commissioner of Income-Tax (ReAC), Mumbai, Smt. Ratna Dasgupta also addressed the participants and responded to their queries.

The Webinar was organized to promote the awareness amongst the stakeholders about the new faceless assessment scheme and had an overwhelming participation of more than 1,000 participants. The department intends to hold more such outreach programmes in coming days to educate the tax payers about the new faceless assessment scheme.

Faceless Assessment Scheme was rolled out in the Income Tax Department as a pilot project in September, 2019. Initially, a limited number of cases were picked up for faceless assessment which was being done at eight centres in the country. The Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi announced the extension of the scheme to the entire department on 13^th August 2020. The scheme is also being extended to the first appellate authority i.e. Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) from 25^th September, 2020.

The concluding part of ‘RAAGOTSAV…Celebration of Monsoon’, an online festival of rare Films Division documentaries on Indian classical music has started streaming on FD Website and You Tube channel from today. Dedicated to the memory of Pt Jasraj, the doyen of Hindustani Music who departed on 17th August, 2020, and also to other maestros of vocal tradition of Indian classical music – both Hindustani and Carnatic schools, this online festival will continue till 28th Aug, 2020. It offers a veritable musical journey through the life and works of prominent masters of famous gharanas and traditions of Indian Classical music – their performing styles and profound impact and valuable contribution to the vocal classical music. The package also includes well-researched documentaries on the nuances of classical music and its distinct styles and traditions.

Today, the beginning of ‘RAAGOTSAV-II’ happened with ‘Sangeet Martand – Pt. Jasraj’(50 min./2000/Madhura Jasraj). Among the prominent vocalists of Mewati gharana and follower of egalitarian philosophy, Pt Jasraj introduced a perfect blend of devotional music with traditional classical style. His total submission to God and Music and his thought process behind introducing new format of jugalbandi, has been potrayed in the biopic, Jasrangi which has been the first on the slot today.

Without mentioning Khayal gayaki, recognition of classical music will be incomplete. The documentary ‘Khayal’ (78 min./1988/Usha Deshpande) helps us to understand the characteristics of various gharanas or schools such as the Jaipur, Gwalior, Mewati and Kirana gharana and contributions made by their leading exponents to Khayal Gayaki.

Film ‘Amir Khan'(18 min./1970/SNS Sastri) portrays the life and works of Ustad Amir Khan, founder of the Indore Gharana, known for his intellectual approach to music and one of the greatly admired vocalists of his times who could bring out all the emotive aspects of the raagas.

‘M S Subbulakshmi’(117 min./2000/Rajgopal V) is a comprehensive biopic on Bharat Ratna, M S Subbulakshmi and depicts her illustrious journey and immense contribution to the ancient and glorious tradition of Carnatic music, especially her bhajans with extra ordinary bhakti bhavana that moved great personalities including Mahatma Gandhi to tears.

Second day (tomorrow) of the musical feast will begin with a documentary on Bharat Ratna Pt. Bhimsen Joshi, great Hindustani exponent of the Kirana gharana and an expert in khayal gayaki. ‘Pt. Bhimsen Joshi’ (74 min./1992/Gulzar) is a biographical film that takes us to the maestro’s enthralling concerts, analyses his passion for different ragas and attempts to uncover the man behind the music icon.

Known as the ‘Pitamaha’ (the grand sire) of modern Carnatic Music, a veteran Carnatic musician and teacher, Semmangudi Sreenivasa Iyer was a dedicated artist. ‘Semmangudi Sreenivasa Iyer’ (20 min./2000/Sivan) is a brief biopic on artist’s extraordinary skill of producing soulful music in a traditional temperament.

Documentry ‘Girija Devi’ (60 min./1997/ Bijoy Chatterjee) peeps into the life and works of an eminent classical singer, an exponent of the Seniya and Banaras Gharanas. She was credited with elevating the profile of Thumri Gayaki and her repertoire included the semi-classical genres like kajri, chaiti, hori and many more.

Another exponent of Kirana Gharana and known for her deep and powerful voice, Gangubai Hangal was a disciple of great maestro Sawai Gandharwa. This film ‘Gangubai Hangal’ (31 min./1985/Vijaya Mulay) includes interview with her and also highlights her passion of khayal singing and philosophy behind it.

‘Dhrupad’(68 min./1982/Mani Kaul) as the name suggests is on ‘Dhrupad Raag’. Though it is improvised in its existing form, roots of Dhrupad can be traced back to a thousand years of living traditions. This film helps us to understand the nuances as well as reasons for the popularity of Dhrupad among music lovers.

The  world  of  classical  music  has  a  special  affection  for  Tarana  bandish.  Through   ‘Tarana’      (26 min./1995/Rajat Kapoor), one gets to know the characteristics of this popular bandish and a unique style that employs mnemonic syllables like ‘dar-dar or ‘dir-dir’ in its compositions. ‘Khayalnuma’ is a variant of the Tarana that is also presented in this film.

Known for breaking all conventional modes of biographical or documentary film making, ‘Siddheswari’ (92 min./1989/Mani Kaul) is a work of experimentation, dedicated to the life and musical journey of legendary Hindustani singer, Siddheswari Devi. This film underlines her invaluable contribution to the world of light classical music.

‘Hans Akela’ (81 min./2006/Jabbar Patel) is the search of a grandson into his grandfather’s life and works. Bhuvanesh Komkali takes us back for a retrospective look into his grandfather, Kumar Gandarva’s probe of musical roots. His search of Kumar Gandharva is not just as a singing legend but as a musicologist too.

‘The Melody Man –Dr. Balamurali Krishna’ (28min./1999/Gul Bahar Singh) takes a short yet incisive trip into the life and works of one of the great exponents of Carnatic Music – Dr. Balamurali Krishna, a vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, playback singer, composer and character actor. His constant quest for new frontiers and his boundless creativity are perfectly portrayed through the documentary.

Raagotsav attempts to not only showcase the best classical music talents India has produced over centuries but also to rekindle and re-invent the spirit of pure music for ‘rasikas’ in India and across the globe. The festival also aims at introducing the younger generation of music lovers to the treasure trove of great traditions of music India is known for, from North to South and East to West. Please visit www.filmsdivision.org and click @ “Documentary of the Week” or follow FD YouTube Channel, https://www.youtube.com/user/FilmsDivision to enjoy the veritable music feast.

Metro is ready to open in September under Unlock-4. But it can create some problems for the commuters as many rules and regulations have been imposed given Covid-19 situation. Not everyone will be given entry into the metro station. The number of entries will depend on the number of people inside the station at that moment. To avoid crowds at interchange stations it has been decided that only 50% of the entry and exit gates will be opened. The station controller will have the responsibility to control the crowd present at the platform. The station controller will co-ordinate along with CISF team present at the entry will decide whether or not to close the entry gates in case of many people arriving at the same time. The metro administration has located around 13 metro stations like Kashmiri gate, Huda City Centre, Rajiv chowk, Mandi House where there is possibility of huge crowds. Currently in the interchange stations will only use one route to go from one line to another. For this metro is preparing different routes.

Along with these a Metro will wait for a longer duration at each metro station. This will result in longer time to reach one’s destination. Generally a Metro stops for 15 to 20 seconds at Metro station but now it well wait for 40 to 50 seconds. Also each coach will be allowed to carry only 20 passengers at a time.

Queensland’s rate of imprisonment has recently undergone a reversal,
following several years of what appeared to be a declining trend. Contrary
to other states and territories, from 2002 to 2012 the rate of imprisonment
in Queensland from 168 to 159 prisoners per 100,000 adults. In 2013 this
trend reversed and by 2014 the rate had reached a 21% increase over the
2002 figure.
In addition, over this period Queensland Corrective Services (QCS) has
increasingly accommodated prisoners in high-security rather than
low-security prisons. In 2013, was at 93% compared to 63% in low-security
facilities.

The increase in prisoner numbers and greater use of high-security facilities
might seem to indicate that Queensland has recently become more
punitive, with tougher and longer sentences. However, evidence suggests at
least part of the rise in prison numbers may be due to the greater
proportion of offenders who return to prison either following or during a
period of supervision in the community.
For several years, Queensland has led other states and territories in these
kinds of returns to prison. For example, the showed that the state’s rate of
returns to prisons was 34.1% compared to the Australian average 24.8%.
Queensland’s rate of return was nearly nine percentage points higher than
second-placed NT.
What is driving the ‘revolving door’?
The recent rise in imprisonment is unlikely to be due to changes in the
state’s crime rate. Long-term crime trends over the past 12 years. And while
some might blame recent government policies, given their open promotion
of “get tough” strategies related to crime control and the picture is a bit
more complex than this.
One contributing factor is the increased use of court-ordered parole in
combination with decreased use of suspended sentences. The Corrective
Services Act 2006 (QLD) stated that parole would be the from prison. As a
result, other forms of gradual or conditional release from prison, including
work release, temporary absences or home detention, were no longer
available.
In traditional forms of parole, parole boards determine the date of release
following a period of good behaviour. Although this form of parole
continued to exist for offenders sentenced to terms of three years or more,
the Act introduced court-ordered parole for offenders who have committed
less serious offences and are sentenced to three years or less. In these cases,
courts set the date of parole release at sentencing and parole could begin at
any point. In effect, offenders could serve their entire sentence in the
community on parole.
The aim of court-ordered parole was ostensibly to increase the level of
supervision for offenders in the community. All sentenced offenders would
receive at least some level of supervision – though the intensity of this
supervision would vary. But court-ordered parole has also been to

suspended sentences by providing magistrates with a supervised
alternative.
However, evidence suggests that a large proportion of these offenders
either return to prison as a result of a breach, leading to suspension or
cancellation of the order, or after committing a new offence. For instance,
our research indicates that about one in four court-ordered parolees return
to prison on a new offence after a three-year follow-up, in contrast to about
one in ten board-ordered parolees.
The reality is that the often minimal level of supervision may increase the
amount of scrutiny without providing much of the kind of support that
offenders might require for successful re-entry.
The increasingly constricted level of funding and resources devoted to
community corrections might also contribute to this result. Funding
restrictions limit the nature and extent of supervision that parole officers
with growing caseloads can provide. They also reduce the availability of
post-prison programs.
Certainly changes in the “back-end” release policies – such as
court-ordered parole – may have contributed to a revolving-door situation
in which offenders frequently return to prisons. It is possible that the less
frequent use of suspended sentences contributed because parolees are more
closely monitored, increasing the detection of breaches. However,
researchers have found, to the contrary, that suspended sentences may
actually lead to a rise in the imprisonment rate.
Whatever the reason, the issue is to find some way to deal with the rising
trend, and especially with the high levels of offender breaches.
Community reparation and rehabilitation work best
Recent evidence demonstrates the importance of focusing on re-entry and
reparation in two important ways.
First, research has demonstrated the importance of sanctions that combine
punishment with programs that help re-establish the offender in the
community. These emphasise punishment in the community rather than
removal from society – and include a range of rehabilitative cSecond,
helping offenders find and keep work has been shown to promote offender
change. This contributes to successful re-entry to society. Investing in

prison training and programs as well as prisoner reentry programs reduces
the risk of re-offending.
In Queensland, where QCS has provided vocational and educational
training programs, evidence indicates very positive results. have fallen for
prisoners who enrol in these programs.
Our research shows the completion of in-prison vocational and educational
training. In a forthcoming publication, we show that these work programs
are important starting points for offenders to change their patterns of
behaviour, forging new non-offending identities.
These types of programs will make a difference in helping offenders
reintegrate by tackling the risk factors for offending.

If I were asked to outline a plan to ensure increasing incarceration, both
generally and of vulnerable groups, I would just point to the Northern
Territory of Australia. No need to ; there is only 623 per 100,000. The
NT sits at 847 per 100,000 adults, nearly four times that of its nearest
Australian rival, Western Australia.
Last year in the Territory, 86% of those in prison and 96% of those in
juvenile detention were Indigenous.
The daily average number of prisoners has more than doubled in the last 20
years. By 2010 the growth in the NT prison population necessitated the
construction of a 1,000-bed,With its opening, there is one prison bed for
every 103 adults. Despite a recent report of lower-than-anticipated
increases in prisoner numbers, based on growth over the last five years the
new jail will reach capacity by 2018.
Adopt punitive policing and sentencing policies
As with many jurisdictions, “tough on crime” rhetoric dominates in the
Territory. The mandatory sentencing regime introduced by the Country

Liberal Party in the 1990s kick-started significant growth in prisoner
numbers. Daily averages grew by
Despite early promise, including removing much of the mandatory
sentencing regime, the decade-long Labor government also contributed
significantly to these trends. Restrictive bail laws have increased numbers
in custody, with 38% of those entering an adult prison and 60% of those
entering youth detention unsentenced on reception.
The remaining mandatory sentencing provisions, for serious violence and
aggravated property offences, mean that prison is the only option available
in many cases.
And while undoubtedly more people are in prison, our community is
certainly not safer. Recorded assaultsThe ineffectiveness of jail in
addressing violent crime (indeed most crime) is also glaringly apparent
when they have served a previous prison term.
Deny Indigenous people access to appropriate services
Despite attempts to Close the Gap, Indigenous people living in remote areas
of the Territory do not enjoy access to the same services as non-Indigenous
people living in similarly sized communities.
Growing up in a town of 60 in rural Queensland, my family had access to a
range of government services. These included a post office, a permanently
staffed police station, a local primary school and a high school a short bus
ride away. I cannot think of a similarly sized Indigenous community
enjoying such facilities.
This lack of services has direct and indirect effects on rates of Indigenous
incarceration. Without identification requirements for a driver’s licence,
with no licensing or vehicle registration services and no public transport,
Indigenous people, far more so than non-Indigenous people, are jailed for
minor driving offences. While recent reforms have reduced these numbers,
a not insignificant number of Aboriginal people have a criminal record for
such offences.
Community-based orders are often unavailable in remote areas as there are
no programs or Correctional Services staff to supervise them. Due to
overcrowding and poor housing, Aboriginal offenders are also unlikely to
meet the suitability requirements of a Home Detention Order (HDO).
While access to in-prison programs is low overall, access to culturally

appropriate programs is even lower. With a few notable exceptions,
programs are developed using Western psychological models and evidence
about non-Indigenous offenders. Their suitability and success for
Indigenous offenders are rarely evaluated.
Yet it’s ironically true, as one senior Corrections official once remarked,
that it’s hard to see why we have special programs for Indigenous prisoners.
Indeed, Indigenous-specific programming is all that’s needed.
Embrace alcohol consumption as a core social value
If largely unfettered access to alcohol is to be a problem then Territorians
must accept that high levels of violence are here to stay. The association
between excessive alcohol consumption and violence is long established, At
least in the Territory are alcohol-related.
Public health education and evidence-based programs can play important
roles in reducing alcohol-related harm. While such programs should be
funded appropriately, supply restrictions must also form part of our
response.
The 2007 NT introduced identification requirements for alcohol purchases
above $100 but coupled this with criminalising those who consumed
alcohol on Aboriginal land. The Banned Drinker Register showed early
promise through a system that prevented alcohol purchases by those on
certain court orders, but partisan politics brought it to an end in 2012.
Ignore evidence of what works in child protection and
youth justice
Based on the growing body of evidence that child protection involvement,
even notification to a child welfare system, is linked to involvement in the
criminal justice system, there are increasingly troubled times ahead.
child protection notifications increased by 30% and the number of
Indigenous children in out-of-home care by 26%. At the same time, the rate
of completed child protection investigations decreased.
Youth justice fares equally badly. Diversionary programs are underfunded
and exclude young people without a responsible adult. There are few
programs for young people in detention or in the community, particularly
in areas such as violent and sexual offending.

The failure of governments to meet the need for a suitable youth facility
means young people are now locked up in a jail deemed unfit for adults;
Correctional Services described the facility as
Both systems are effectively driving young people’s further and deeper
involvement in the criminal justice system. Young people are remanded in
custody, sometimes for weeks, because no parent or family member comes
to court, yet child protection maintains the young person is not in need of
care.
Criminal charges are routinely brought against young people in residential
facilities, rather than working through behavioural issues as we might in
our own homes. Children in care have unpaid fines incurring interest and
attracting further penalty, with no way of paying off these debts.
I offer no solutions here. When we decide we want different outcomes – a
safer community, fewer people in jail – those solutions can be found in the
thousands of words spoken and written by dozens of Aboriginal people and
organisations, lawyers, academics and others, over many, many years.

Although criminal justice agencies in Australia have, in recent years,
adopted an increasingly , responses to crime that rely on punishment alone
have failed to make our communities Instead, they have produced an This
has the potential to and places considerable strain on government budgets.
Increasing prison sentences criminal behaviour. Longer sentences are
associated with higher rates of re-offending. When prisoners return to their
communities, as the vast majority inevitably do, the problems multiply.
Exposing the limitations of punishment
In this context, it becomes important to think carefully about public policy
responses that aim to punish and deter offenders. Psychologists have been
under well-controlled laboratory conditions with both animals and humans
for nearly 100 years. Its effectiveness in promoting short-term behavioural
change, or even in suppressing negative behaviour, depends on rather
specific conditions being in place.
For punishment to work it has to be predictable. Punishment also has to be
applied at maximum intensity to work, or else tolerance and temporary
effects result. Yet applying very intense levels of punishment for many
offences goes against our sense of justice and fairness.
The threat of punishment, no matter how severe, will not deter anyone who
believes they can get away with it. It will also not deter those who are too
overcome by emotion or care about the consequences of their behaviour.
Punishment also has to be immediate. Delayed punishment provides
opportunities for other behaviours to be reinforced. In reality, it often takes
months – if not years – for someone to be apprehended, appear in court
and be sentenced.

Working towards more effective rehabilitation
Many of the conditions required for punishment to be effective will not
exist in any justice system. It follows that policies and programmes that
focus on rehabilitating offenders will have a greater chance of success in
preventing crime and improving community safety.
The origins of offender rehabilitation in Australia can be traced back to the
early penal colonies and, in particular, a prison governor on Norfolk Island
in 1840. Maconochie introduced the idea of indeterminate rather than fixed
sentences, implemented a system of rehabilitation in which good behaviour
counted towards prisoners’ early release, and advocated a system of
aftercare and community resettlement.
Maconochie’s ideas built on those of the great social reformers of
18th-century Britain, notably Quakers such as They were among the first to
try to change prisons from what they called “institutions of deep despair
and cruel punishment” to places that were more humane and had the
potential to reform prisoners’ lives.
These days, though, offender rehabilitation is often thought about in terms
of psychological treatment. We can chart the rise of current programmes
according to the broad traditions of behaviour modification The earliest
therapeutic work in the psychoanalytic tradition saw delinquent behaviour
as the product of a failure in psychological development. It was thought this
could be addressed through gaining insight into the causes of offending. A
wide range of group and milieu therapies were developed for use with
offenders, including psychodrama.
There are good grounds to develop standardised incentive models in
Australia’s prisons. Community-style therapeutic programmes for prisoners
with substance use problems in Victoria, NSW and the ACT represent
substantial advances in practice.
These programmes take advantage of the significant therapeutic
opportunities that arise by looking closely at prisoners’ social functioning
and day-to-day interactions. They actively encourage offenders to assume
responsibility not only for their own behaviour, but for that of others.
However, rehabilitation today is almost always associated with
cognitive-behavioural therapy. This targets a relatively narrow range of
crime-producing (or “criminogenic”) needs, including pro-criminal
attitudes – those thoughts, values and sentiments that support criminal

conduct. Programmes also dedicate a lot of time to trying to change
personality traits, such as low self-control, hostility, pleasure- or
thrill-seeking and lack of empathy.
Not everyone can be successfully treated. Substantial evidence now exists,
though, to suggest that this type of approach does produce socially
significant reductions in re-offending.
Essential steps in making corrections policy work
The challenges lie in ensuring that the right programmes are delivered to
the right people at the right time.
First, it is important that low-risk offenders have minimal contact with
higher-risk offenders. Extended contact is only likely to increase their risk
of recidivism. This has implications for prisoner case management, prison
design and for the courts.
Courts have the power to divert low-risk offenders from prison and thus
minimise contact with more entrenched offenders. Related to this is the
need to develop effective systems of community-based rehabilitation,
leaving prisons for the most dangerous and highest-risk offenders.
Second, concerted efforts are required to develop innovative programmes
for those who identify with Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander cultural
backgrounds. They are across all levels of the criminal justice system.
Third, staff need to be properly selected, trained, supervised and resourced
to deliver the highest-quality rehabilitation services to the most complex
and challenging people.
Finally, it is important to demonstrate that programmes actually make
offenders better, not worse. The types of evaluation that are needed to
attribute positive change to programme completion are complex, require
large numbers of participants and cross-jurisdictional collaboration. A
national approach to programme evaluation is sorely needed.
This is not to suggest that criminal behaviour shouldn’t be punished – only
that we should not rely on punishment by itself to change behaviour. We
need to create a true system of rehabilitation that can enhance the
corrective impact of punishment-based approaches.
It also doesn’t mean that punishment never works. It may work reasonably
well with some people – perhaps those who are future-oriented, have good

self-monitoring and regulation skills, and who can make the connection
between their behaviour and negative consequences months later.
Unfortunately, many people in prison simply aren’t like this. The challenge,
then, is two-fold: to find ways to make punishment more effective and to
tackle the causes of offending through high-quality rehabilitation.
Correctional services often get little credit for their efforts. They are widely
criticised when things go wrong. However, their efforts to rehabilitate
offenders are not only sensible, but also cost-efficient and practical.
We need to support efforts to create a true system of rehabilitation. Such a
system will be comprehensive, coherent and internally consistent in
applying evidence-based practice at all levels.