Jails in U.P. to ride the tech wave in times ahead

Lucknow: In view of the number of inmates in the jails of Uttar Pradesh exceeding their capacity, the Yogi government has decided to construct new jails in several districts of the state. 11 such districts of the state have been identified, where there is no jail at present.

Apart from this, the process of construction of one central jail and other jails in nine districts has been started. At the same time, the number of barracks is being increased in some jails. For this, on the instructions of the Yogi government, the government has released a huge budget, giving a green signal to the prison department.

Keeping in view the present scenario, these jails will be built using hi-tech technology. Along with this, the target of construction of new jails has been fixed for 2 to 5 years.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was informed by the Prison Administration and Reforms Department in a high-level meeting that at present there are more prisoners in many jails including the central and district jails of the state. In such a situation, there is a need for new jails keeping in view the facilities provided by the jail manual and protection of the human rights of the prisoners.

Senior officials of the department told CM Yogi that at present there is a capacity of 13,669 prisoners in 7 Central Jails while 15,201 prisoners are detained here, whose ratio is 111 percent. Similarly, 62 district jails have a capacity of 49,107 prisoners, against which 95,597 prisoners are detained, the ratio of which is 194 percent. There are 2 sub-jails with a capacity of 306 prisoners, against which 664 prisoners are detained, the ratio of which is 216 percent. Women’s Central Jail has a capacity of 120 prisoners, against which 148 prisoners are detained, the ratio of which is 123 percent.

On this, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had instructed the Prison Administration and Reforms Department to submit a proposal regarding the construction of new jails as soon as possible, after which the department made a proposal for the construction of new jails in 11 districts of the state and handed it over to the government.  In this regard, after meeting again with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the government proposed the construction of new jails, to which the CM gave the green signal. As soon as CM Yogi’s approval was received, the government released a huge budget to the prison department for the construction of new jails.

As soon as the government released the budget for the construction of new jails, the way was cleared for their construction in those districts of the state, where there is no jail till now. 11 districts of the state have 990-990 detainee capacity in Amethi, Mahoba respectively and one thousand detainee capacity each in Kushinagar, Chandauli, Auraiya, Hapur, Sambhal, Amroha, Bhadohi, 1026 detainee capacity in Hathras, 2 thousand detainee capacity in Shamli. The process of construction of jails has been started.

Similarly, the process of construction of a new Central Jail in Lalitpur has been expedited, which will have a prisoner capacity of two thousand. At the same time, the process of construction of second district jail of 1000 inmate capacity has been started in Lalipur.

Similarly, funds have been approved for the repair and renovation of Bareilly’s old jail, which will have a capacity of 2,579 prisoners.

Apart from this, the process of construction of three thousand prisoners each in Moradabad, Muzaffarnagar, two thousand each in Shahjahanpur, Badaun, Varanasi, one thousand each in Jaunpur, Rampur and 5 thousand in Kanpur city is underway. At the same time, by the end of March, the district jail with a capacity of 502 prisoners in Shravasti and 2688 in Prayagraj will be ready.

According to the information received from the government, one barrack with a capacity of 30 prisoners is being constructed in Gorakhpur District Jail, seven barracks with a capacity of 30 prisoners in Central Jail Varanasi and four barracks with a capacity of 30 prisoners in District Jail Mathura. In such a situation, with the construction of new jails, repair of some jails and increasing the capacity of barracks in jails, more than 35 thousand prisoners can be shifted here.