The Supreme Court and High Courts have highlighted the need for prison reforms particularly with respect to:
- Lack of health-care
- Inadequate trained staff
- Custodial conditions
- Legal aid
Hence, the aforesaid which concerns with the welfare of the prisoners have been the topical issues especially in India. As per the India Justice Report 2019, it has highlighted four pillars of the justice system, i.e., Police; Prison; Legal Aid and Judiciary and has underlined the issues afflicting ‘prison’ in Indian context. There are various issues which must be pointed out in the context of prison reform. First off, in relation to the police which are very crucial in the dispensation of justice and administration lack of training and constant vacancies in the police department does create various issues. In fact, the vacancies in the office cadre have been way too less to handle the overwhelming cases effectively especially when it comes to the administration of prison. Another aspect which continuously presents as the significant challenge in India is the occupancy and share of undertrials. There are clear relationships between the pendency of cases in the court and large number of undertrials which ought to be addressed.
Legal aid mechanism does offer ways in facilitating prison reforms.
Unfortunately, various states have given scant regards on this area. As per the data various states often fail to utilize the budgetary allocation and resources as per the statutory requirement. The judiciary has given numerous landmark judgments in relation to the vulnerability of the prisoners, and providing such prisoners with various rights. In the case of Sunil Batra 
v. Delhi Administration, a landmark judgment was given by a constitutional bench which highlighted rights of the prisoners and also enumerated various articles under the Indian Constitution having a bearing on the rights of the prisoners.
