Staff crunch worries jail officials

Perturbed over increasing incidents of security breach inside and outside the jail campus in various districts of the State over the past few years, the State Government had recently handed over the administration of jails to an IPS officer, rupturing the longstanding tradition of leaving things to an IAS. However, things are vegetating with the state administration not providing the jail administration with adequate officers and infrastructure. Nobody knows when the state government would sit up and clear decks for the long-pending recruitment.

People were relieved, thinking that the crucial post being given to an IPS would better the quality of jail administration. But the staff crunch remaining un-addressed is coming in the way of the jails becoming jails in the true sense. "Things are being left to god's grace," said a worried jail official.Shortage of jail officials, including jail superintendent, jailor, deputy jailors, head warders, warders and female warders, has been leaving an adverse impact on the functioning of jail administration.

The lack of coordination between police administration and state administration results in the crucial recruitment process for the jail department hang in fire for a considerably long time.

Seemingly frustrated with things remaining stuck in the bogs of apathy, a police senior officer wondered whether there is any department in the state as well as in the country where 75 per cent of the posts remain vacant for years.Shortage of jail staffs spawned cases of security breach in the jails last year. A shoot-out occurred outside Roorkee sub-jail in August last. As per evidences, a hard- core criminal Sunil Rathi had drafted the shootout to bump off his arch-rival Cheenu Pandit. Some mobile phones were recovered by the administrative officers who inspected the jails in the past.

The jail authorities had sent proposals a few months ago, demanding recruitment of jail staffs and seeking 125 police officers and police personnel on deputation from the police department to overcome the crunch. However, those in positions to address the demands keep on sitting on the proposals for reasons best known to them.

A Pauri jail official said that the persons recruited through Uttarakhand Purva Sainik Kalyan Nigan limited (UPNl) can hardly be relied upon when it comes to monitoring CCTV cameras and jamming cell-phones.  Jails being overcrowded are further compounding their problems, he said.  Junior jail officers of the rank of deputy jailor or head warden are heading the jails in some districts, including Tehri and Pauri and these officers have to report the SDM concerned on a daily basis as regards budget and other decisions. It means that things are  being left to the charge of  junior jail officials like warden or head warden for five to six hours daily, leaving the jails highly vulnerable.