KOCHI: Prisons in the State are in a pathetic condition with inadequate number of staff and overcrowding. The information revealed by the Jail Headquarters under an RTI query points to the immediate need of opening more prisons in the State. Out of the three central prisons in the State those in Thiruvananthapuram and Viyyur have almost double the number of prisoners they can accommodate, while the Kannur central prison is almost full. Thiruvananthapuram central prison which can accommodate 727 prisoners has an existing strength of 1,346 and Viyyur central prison has an existing strength of 658 against the allotted capacity of 376 prisoners. The Kannur central prison has a capacity of 1,086 and a strength of 1,062 prisoners.
The information obtained by ‘The Proper Channel’ also points out the terrible staff shortage in most of the prisons in the state.
Three central prisons together have a shortage of 53 employees, including welfare officers, warder, female warder, head warder, lab assistant, assistant jailer, engine driver, driver and clerical staff. Similarly, there is a shortage of 36 employees in the two open jails in Nettukaltheri and Cheemeni while there’s a shortage of 70 staff together in all the 29 sub-jails in the state.
“The information on overcrowding and staff shortage has come at a time when there are various initiatives for improving the facilities in jails. The central prison in Thiruvananthapuram has a shortage of 29 warders while the other two central prisons have shortage of welfare officers. With less number of staff and almost double the number of prisoners, the jails are in a pathetic state.
It’s high time the government launched one more central prison,” said officials of The Proper Channel.
The information obtained under RTI revealed that there is a total of 4,857 prisoners together in the three central prisons, 29 subjails and two open jails in the State.
The government has been spending around Rs 21.93 lakh for providing food for the employees and prisoners in the sub-jails.
An amount of Rs 56.72 lakh has been spent for giving salaries to the employees in central jails, said the information provided by the Public Information Officer at the Jail Headquarters.