BHUBANESWAR: The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India flagged serious security lapses and overcrowding in Odisha jails.
In its latest audit report, CAG pointed out that there was a shortage of guarding staff in position against the scheduled accommodation, ranging from 6.67 per cent to 41.67 pc as of March, 2023.
As against 1,680 sanctioned posts of guard staff in 75 jails, only 1,282 personnel were deployed. There were 29 instances of prison breaks in the state in three years (2020-2023) due to non-deployment of adequate guard staff with the required watch towers, revealed the report.
The CAG also observed that critical security equipment like closed circuit cameras, door frame metal detectors and baggage scanners were either not installed or non-operational in Odisha jails. Due to absence of these security equipment, 74 mobile phones, 56 SIM cards, one pen-drive, 26 empty liquor bottles and 1.76 kg ganja were seized from Special Jail in Bhubaneswar during 46 search operations conducted between 2020 and 2023. Similarly, two mobile phones and 1.19 kg ganja were seized from Balasore district jail during search operations between March 2021 and December 2021, it said.
The audit also highlighted that the Directorate of Prisons and Correctional Services had not uploaded/updated crucial information on e-Prisons portal. After incurring an expenditure of `9.22 crore, three mandatory fields - FIR number, date and police station name were missing or not available on e-Prisons, said the report.
As the above information was missing/unavailable, the data pertaining to prisoners such as registration, personal details, information related to court action, conviction, remission and parole details could not be fully integrated with Inter-operable Criminal Justice System, the report stated.
The CAG criticised overcrowding of prisoners in the jails too. There had been a substantial increase in accommodation of inmates during the last three years. Out of 87 jails having 18,862 inmates as of March, 2023, 31 were severely overcrowded, it said.
The report also noted that there was a shortage of medical staff in all the prison hospitals against the existing bed facilities. Except minor operation theatre and physiotherapy clinical facility in Berhampur jail and psychiatric unit in Choudwar Circle Jail, no clinical facilities were available for prisoners in any of the sampled prisons, it added.
The CAG recommended to sanction the required number of guarding staff and medical professional posts to maintain robust security of jails and to provide better healthcare facilities to prisoners. It also advised to construct sufficient watch towers and procure/maintain basic equipment for safety and security of the prisons.