Bangalore: Parappana Agrahara prison to be expanded by 20 acres
From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore
Bangalore, Sep 5: Bangalore’s Central Jail at Parappana Agrahara, in the city outskirts, which has been lately in the news because of the inmates inside or those staging dramatic escapes, will now by expanded by another 20 acres.
Karnataka’s Home Minister K J George, who chaired a high level meeting of the officials in Bangalore on Thursday, told reporters that a committee headed by S K Pattanayak, Additional Chief Secretary, Home Department, has been constituted to work out details such as cost and design of the expansion plan.
''There is no dearth of funds to take up this expansion plan,” he said.
The minister said the State Government has decided to take up expansion of the Parappana Agrahara prison and a final notification has been issued to acquire 20 acres adjacent to the prison.
George admitted that the total number of inmates at the central jail of the City was around 4,200 as against the maximum capacity of 2,000 convicts.
Watchtowers for all prisons in State
The minister, who inspected the security system at the jail a few days ago, said that he was shocked to see the prevailing condition at the Parappana Agrahara prison.
"First of all there is no biometric system. Only six of the total 25 CCTVs that had been installed in 1996 within the jail premises are working," he said.
He also expressed surprise that there are no watch towers at the central prison, which are mandatory to keep a watch on the entire jail.
Watch towers would be constructed in the Bangalore jail as also in other jails in the State, he said
The department has decided to modernise all the jails across the State and step up vigilance, George said.
Several prisoners had spent more than 14 years in jail but have not been released due to absence of proper guidelines in the government.
There was delay in the release of prisoners with good conduct, he said.
Release of prisoners with 'good conduct’ on Oct 2
The State Governor had rejected the government’s proposal to release certain number of prisoners for want of guidelines.
The guidelines would be framed soon and it would be sent to the Governor for his approval, the minister said.
"We are planning to release prisoners with good conduct on October 2,” George said.
The Home Minister said instructions had been given to bear the expenses on payment of fine and release some prisoners from the Parappana Agrahara prison, who were unable to pay fine.
All these measures would help in bringing down the number of prisoners/undertrials at the central jail, he said.
Rs 100 Hike in Home Guards’ Daily Wages
In view of the shortage of police personnel in Bangalore City, the State Government has decided to utilise services of Home Guards for traffic and beat policing.
A decision has also been taken to increase daily wages of Home Guards from the present Rs 200 to Rs 300 per day, the minister announced.
He said the city’s civil police strength was around 10,000 against the sanctioned 12,700 posts. Nearly 2900 posts of police were vacant in the city.
The number of Home Guards to be roped in for policing and traffic would be decided by a committee headed by Home Department Additional Chief Secretary S K Pattanayak, he said.
8,000 Police Vacancies to be Filled up
Steps are being taken for filling up 8,000 police vacancies in the State, he said.
The Finance Department has approved a proposal submitted by the Home Department for filling vacancies and a majority of them are constables, he said pointing out that police recruitment was not done during the last 2-3 years.
The meeting also approved the action plan for implementation of the mega city project in the City. Under the centrally sponsored project, both technology and non-technology aspects of the policing would be developed.
The meeting was attended by DG-IGP Lalrokhuma Pachau and Bangalore Police Commissioner Raghavendra H Auradkar.