Hyderabad: The Telangana Prisons Department adopted a zero-tolerance policy towards negligence, indiscipline and security lapses, DG Soumya Mishra said. She said the department was taking appropriate action against officials found responsible for such violations.
The department issued the clarification following an article published in Namaste Telangana on August 31. The report raised concerns about staffing and prison management at facilities holding large numbers of inmates.
Mishra said the Warangal Central Jail building had been demolished and temporarily converted into an open-air jail. Meanwhile, the remaining prisoners had been shifted to other nearby prisons.
She clarified that the prisoners would return to Warangal Central Jail after construction of the new prison building was completed. The department was therefore making temporary arrangements until the facility became operational again.
Staff sanctioned for Warangal Central Jail were being deployed on a rotational basis at several locations. These included Central Prison Nizamabad, Central Prison Sangareddy and the Sika Training Institute.
The staff were also assigned law-and-order and election duties. In addition, they were working in prisoner rehabilitation programmes at petrol pumps, palm oil nurseries, sheep farms, vegetable cultivation units and a phenol manufacturing unit.
The department had also sent proposals to the government seeking permanent transfers of some Warangal Jail staff to Nizamabad and Sangareddy prisons. Mishra said permanent staff would be available at those jails if the government approved the proposals.
Telangana prisons security lapses: inquiry continues in Nizamabad
Mishra said the regular superintendent of Nizamabad Central Jail was facing a departmental inquiry. She added that the department had taken note of an incident at the jail and that the Judicial Magistrate had also considered the matter.
Following a medical examination, authorities transferred the prisoner involved in the incident to Kamareddy Sub-jail. Meanwhile, the investigation against those responsible for the incident would continue.
Mishra also referred to the management of Cherlapalli Central Jail, which houses 2,000 prisoners. She said a superintendent-level officer was effectively managing the facility.
According to the DG, the prison administration believed that staffing levels should correspond to the number of prisoners and the rank of officers required. The department maintained that appropriate action would follow wherever negligence, indiscipline or security lapses were established.
The clarification also addressed concerns over staff deployment and temporary arrangements at Warangal Central Jail. The department said it was working towards permanent staffing arrangements at Nizamabad and Sangareddy, subject to government approval.