Reform and Welfare: Time and Personhood in Telangana’s Prison Reform

Over the years, prisons across the world have evolved from being sites of punitive confinement for individuals participating in activities considered unlawful in a specific sociopolitical context to correctional facilities offering opportunities for redemption and eventual reintegration. In India, successive prison reforms have advocated for the humanitarian treatment of incarcerated individuals. The present study, based on an evaluative study of prison reforms in Telangana, critically examines the ways the reform is conceptualised and operationalised through an intertwined relationship between discipline and welfare. Focusing on the strict control over time, this article explores how this both constrains and enables the restoration of personhood. Drawing on in-depth interviews and field observations across multiple prisons, the study finds that although reforms have improved living conditions and services, welfare is often framed as a reward for conformity, which can erode personhood. The article argues that for prison reforms to be truly transformative, there is a need for reimagination that goes beyond the conventional carceral framework and engages more meaningfully with the diverse lived experiences and aspirations of incarcerated individuals.