Captured inmates
Chennai: The escape of 17 prisoners from Theni sub-jail has brought Tamil Nadu’s prison department under scrutiny, exposing a decades-old staff crunch despite overcrowding of the prisons. Nearly 15% of sanctioned posts remain vacant in the prison. The prisons department has a sanctioned strength of 5,489 personnel to manage 125 institutions, including nine central prisons, five special prisons for women and 12 district jails, according to senior officials. The 15 % vacancy coupled with leave of absence by some of the staff would reduce the personnel available for security and inmate management considerably, say officials. These institutions have a combined authorised capacity of 24,342 inmates, but several are housing prisoners beyond their permissible limits. “Seven of the nine central prisons are overcrowded, while district jails and sub-jails have been operating at 115% to 130% of capacity for several months. The strain was particularly evident in Theni, where 334 prisoners were lodged against an accommodation capacity of 200 on the day of the escape, taking occupancy to 167% of capacity. An assistant jailer who joined the department 31 years ago said the sanctioned strength had not kept pace with the increase in the inmate population.
Prison personnel said the problem extended beyond Theni, with overcrowding reported at Puzhal central prisons I and II in Chennai and six other central prisons. You Can Also Check: Gold Rate in Chennai | Silver Rate in Chennai | Bank Holidays in Chennai | Public Holidays in Chennai | Chennai AQI | Weather in Chennai | Petrol Price in Chennai | Diesel Price in Chennai | CNG Price in Chennai | LPG Price in Chennai Stay updated with the latest Chennai news.
Nevertheless, the sanctioned strength, which has remained unchanged for more than three decades, should be increased” a senior prison department official said. Personnel said the shortage was compounded by staff being deployed to supervise prisoner-run prison industries, freedom bazaars, petrol bunks, stores and canteens, leaving fewer hands available for guarding inmates and supervising their movement. Sub-jails, which have smaller staff complements, are particularly vulnerable to such constraints, they said. “Seniors also rope in personnel for official works and drivers for senior officials,” said a source in the Prison HQ. The department needs to be revamped, with manpower and infrastructure strengthened in line with the growing prison population,” a prison employee at a central prison in the southern region said.
This sanctioned strength itself was fixed more than three decades back. One of the reasons for the swollen strength was the recent increase in arrests linked to drug peddling and related offences. “Our lives are at risk. Who would be held responsible if a warder were killed during a jailbreak? Senior officials did not respond to calls seeking their response to manpower shortage in the prison department. Download the TOI App.
The govt should increase the sanctioned strength to improve manpower and prevent incidents such as jailbreaks,” the officer said. Prison personnel said senior govt officials were aware of overcrowding, but no corrective measures were taken. Instead, lower level staff are made scapegoats when there was a crisis, said a prison staff.
“Except for Vellore and Cuddalore, inmate numbers in other central prisons have crossed permissible levels.