Need for educating prisoners: PM

New Delhi: Noting that prisoners lack understanding of their rights, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said there was a need for increasing their awareness and advocated the need for educating them.

In a message to Bar Council of Delhi which is launching a National Campaign for Legal Awareness among prisoners from tomorrow, Singh said like other citizens of the country, a prisoner is also entitled to basic human rights both under national as well as international human rights laws.

"Most of the prison inmates in our country lack understanding their rights. It is, therefore, very important that we increase awareness among them in this area," Singh said. He said he was confident that the Bar Council initiative will contribute to ensuring fundamental human rights of the prisoners and detainees. "I extend my greetings and felicitations to the organisers and participants of the campaign and wish it all success," he said.