CHENNAI: The Prisoners Cash Properties (PCP) canteens, aka prison canteens, in all central prisons and special prisons for women in the state have been computerised with biometric access feature. The canteens equipped with the new feature were inaugurated on Monday.
A press note released by the prisons department said the move aims at tackling the irregularities and making the functioning of the PCP canteens more transparent and accountable. “DGP prisons initiated the project to revamp the functions of the canteens three months ago. The project has been completed and the PCP canteen system has been completely revamped and fully computerised with biometric access features,” it read.
In the computerised canteens, inmates can now buy articles only through biometric authentication, fingerprint scan or smart cards. All sales in the canteens and amount details are now computerised. The rates of items sold through PCP canteens have been reduced and made uniform in all the central prisons and special prisons for women throughout the state.
The new system will help the prisoners know their weekly limit balance and total net balance at any time, as all logs are stored in the system for future reference. The reports of all PCP canteen activity in the prisons can be viewed from prison headquarters and all transactions of the PCP canteens will be compulsorily audited by the audit team of the prison concerned and also by the audit team of the prison headquarters.
The PCP canteens offer various articles like soap, biscuits, tea, coffee, bun, toothpaste and brush, coconut oil, fruits, various snacks as well as meals on a payment basis. Each ‘A’ class prisoner is allowed to purchase articles up to Rs 1000 per week and each ‘B’ class prisoner is allowed to purchase articles up to Rs 750 a week from these PCP canteens.
Prices of items sold via canteens made uniform
The rates of items sold through PCP canteens have been reduced and have been made uniform in all the central prisons and special prisons for women throughout the state