Teeming dist jail needs lung space

Vijayawada: The district jail here, which was started as sub-jail way back in 1905 during the British Raj meant to house 166 prisoners, is now overcrowded with nearly 300 prisoners, including sizable number of remand prisoners.

Though euphemistically called district jail it is hardly fits the bill to call so. It doesn’t even have the solitary cell to tame the hardcore or arrogant prisoner. The prisoners are virtually packed like sardines in the jail giving hard time to them.

Presently, the jail houses the remand prisoners who are waiting for trial and those who are convicted and sentenced to less than two years jail term. In case of women prisoners, even if they are sentenced to more than one month, they would be shifted to Rajamahendravaram Central Jail, says jail superintendent M Ranga Rao.

Anyway, the police experience tough time to transfer these prisoners to the central jail in Rajamahendravaram and at the same time, it is equally burdensome to the relatives of the convicts to visit them there.

Moreover, in case the police arrest any international criminal, he could not be accommodated here. Many persons accused in railway thefts right from Visakhapatnam to Vijayawada are also lodged in this jail.

The main problem the jail authorities feel is the ganja smugglers and some other petty criminals who indulge in minor scuffles. With the judiciary denying bail to the ganja smugglers, these hardcore smugglers cause some problem at times.

The jail officials feel that they could provide employment to the sentenced prisoners if they are given the work of maintaining greenery in the newly developed green spots in the upcoming new capital.

All they need is a vehicle and water source to maintain greenery which would be done by the prisoners. The brighter side is that there is hardly any prisoner who is kept beyond their conviction time in the jail with the judiciary closely watching the happenings in jails. No person should be kept in remand for half of the term which he should undergo if he is found guilty.

The jail authorities regularly send the reports to the District Legal Authority regarding the condition and the status of the remand prisoners to avoid illegal confinement.

The district jail is plagued with staff shortage. The authorities are managing with the staff on deputation from other centres. The superintendent said that the staff was already recruited and their training would commence by month end. “Once the training is over, there would be no staff shortage,” he says.

Anyway, the problem revolves around the need of having a Central Jail in the new capital which is under construction. If the central jail is constructed the district jail would become redundant and the expensive prime land could be transferred to the government for commercial purposes.

The question is whether the state government would allot land necessary for the construction of central jail in near future to solve the problem forever or not.

By MV Syam Sundar