Sri Lanka, Oct. 30 -- A report in the Daily Mirror (October 22, 2026), highlights a persistent crisis in our penal system: a significant number of inmates remain incarcerated simply because they cannot afford to pay their court-imposed fines. This situation severely exacerbates prison overcrowding and imposes an unnecessary financial burden on the state, which must house and feed individuals whose underlying offenses do not warrant long-term confinement.

While NGOs, public and corporate sponsorships offer a compassionate short-term remedy to clear these fines, a more sustainable, dignified solution lies in creating structured prison work programmes.

Instead of keeping fine-defaulting inmates idle, the government - in collaboration wi...