HYDERABAD: While the Supreme Court of India has directed to decongest prisons to protect prisoners’ right to life, the State government’s decision to shift the inmates of Warangal Central Prison has led to overcrowding at Cherlapally Central Jail, and filled a few other jails close to their maximum capacity.
The Cherlapally Central Prison now has around 130 prisoners more than the maximum inmates it is supposed to have. Recently, the Telangana Prisons Department shifted around 230 prisoners (about 180 convicts and 50 undertrials) to Cherlapally jail, which already has a headcount of around 1,880 prisoners against the total capacity of 1,980.
Incidentally, the Prisons Department has also sent a proposal to the State government with a list of around 300 prisoners who are eligible to be released on parole, after the Apex Court’s directions. The State government is yet to take a decision on sanctioning parole.
As it would take at least two to three years to construct Warangal Central Prison, as the existing facility was allotted for a super speciality hospital, the Prison Department has proposed a new barrack to be built inside the Cherlapally jail.
“The government has sanctioned construction of another barrack on the premises of the prison with a budget of Rs 3 crore. It would be completed in three months and would address the overcrowding issue,” said a senior official from the Prisons Department.