HYDERABAD: The Telangana Prisons department is most likely to shift as many as 400 prisoners, including 100 high-security prisoners, out of Cherlapally Central Prison by the end of this month. With a new block for prisoners getting readied at Chanchalguda, the department has decided to move 200 prisoners from Cherlapally, including the 100 high-security prisoners.
The new block at Chanchalguda, which has come in place of the old block that was demolished two years ago, and is expected to ease the overcrowded Chanchalguda and Cherlapally prisons.
Similarly, 100 prisoners from Cherlapally would be shifted to Open Air prisons and another 100 to district jails.
Both Cherlapally and Chanchalguda prisons, at present, house prisoners beyond their permitted capacity. With a capacity of 1,500 inmates, Cherlapally has been housing more than 2,000 prisoners, many of whom are terror accused. Similarly, with a capacity of 500 prisoners, Chanchalguda has been housing over 850 prisoners, a good number of whom are undertrials.
“Our new block at Chanchalguda Prison is ready for inauguration by the end of the month. With this, we would double the capacity at the jail,” DG Prisons, VK Singh told Express. The old block at Chanchalguda where about 500 prisoners were housed, was demolished two years ago. Since then, as many as 850 prisoners were lodged in the remaining blocks and some were shifted to other jails.
The entire construction of the new block is learnt to have costed around `8 cr. The new block will have around 100 cells with a provision to lodge special convicts in solitude. According to him, high security prisoners and detinues will be lodged separately in individual cells. “At present, they are living like friends. We are going to segregate them and put them individually in separate cells,” he said. The new block at Chanchaldua prison has modern facilities for kitchen, bathroom and better ventillation, he added.
Fine Arts Classes for Prisoners:
The department, last Friday, launched fine arts and painting classes for prisoners at Chanchalguda prison. The classes have been initiated in association with Krishna Kruthi Foundation. Two teachers would teach fine arts and painting to selected 25 prisoners twice a week for three months.
The department has decided to put up a stall, exclusively to sell paintings made by the prisoners, in the next Numaish exhibition. They also aim to organise a painting exhibition at the State Art Gallery at Madhapur at the end of the three months course. “We have started this on a pilot basis. In a month’s time, we would start the same in other jails too. We have a number of prisoners who know the basics of painting and we would enhance their knowledge to help them earn livelihood later,” VK Singh, director general, Telangana prisons.
The prisoner whose painting is sold will get 25 percent of the sale proceeds and the dept which spends on the materials will get the rest. “We have roped in a veteran painter Suryaprakash to help our prisoners,” the DG said.