LUCKNOW, Dec. 3 -- The Uttar Pradesh government is set to place before the state cabinet a proposal to approve the Uttar Pradesh Jail Manual (First Amendment), 2025, drafted in compliance with a landmark Supreme Court order against caste-based discrimination inside Indian prisons. The move follows directions issued by the Supreme Court seeking removal of all caste-linked practices governing labour allocation, barrack segregation, and treatment of inmates, including those classified as members of "denotified tribes" or "habitual offenders." Officials say the changes mark an important step towards modernising prison administration and aligning jail practices with constitutional values and human rights norms. If approved, the 2025 amendment will become the first major revision to the UP jail manual since its comprehensive update in 2022. According to the proposal, Uttar Pradesh's jail manual - originally notified in 2022 - will undergo targeted amendments across several chapters, rules and annexures to eliminate discriminatory language and practices. The amendments are being introduced under powers vested in the state government by Section 59 of the Prisons Act, 1894. The key proposed amendments include redefinition of "habitual offender", the definition provided under the Uttar Pradesh Habitual Offenders' Restriction Act, 1952, ensuring uniformity with statutory law, deletion of the word "caste" across the manual where the term "caste" appears will be revised in accordance with the Supreme Court's directive to remove caste-based classification of inmates and several rules mandating or enabling labour assignment based on caste identity will be amended to prohibit such practices and ensure equal treatment for all prisoners. Besides, the manual will expressly incorporate the provision that the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 is binding on prisons. This will be added to ensure that no inmate-irrespective of caste-can be forced into manual scavenging tasks. The state government will seek the approval of the council of ministers for the notification of the amendment. The proposal includes both the law department-vetted English draft and the language department-vetted Hindi draft of the amendment notification....