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The Bihar government will release 285 prisoners as part of socialite stalwart Jayprakash Narayan's birth centenary celebrations beginning Friday.
The state cabinet has approved law department's proposal to grant special remittance of sentence to convicts under a formula that will take into consideration their age, crime and the number of years spent in jail.
Special provisions have been made for women and prisoners suffering from serious ailments.
The proposal would now be sent to the governor for clearance.
This year alone the state government had twice -- first on the Republic Day and then on the Independence Day -- declared its intentions to free prisoners. On both occasions, however, intentions never got translated into action.
Bihar's 54 jails, designed to accommodate 20,000 prisoners, house over 36,000. The jails also do not have adequate health facilities.
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