Prison Minister Jai Kumar Singh ‘Jaiki’ on Monday attacked the previous Samajwadi Party government for the deterioration in law and order inside prisons of the state. “During the last regime, ministers enjoyed biryani with hardened criminals inside jail premises,” alleged the Prison Minister while replying to media queries on deteriorating conditions inside state prisons. He was speaking to mediapersons after inaugurating a three-day training programme for jail officials from several states in Lucknow on Monday morning.
When asked about the Rae Bareli incident, Singh said that necessary action had been taken against the guilty and a probe was still on and some other factors had also surfaced, which he refused to reveal further.
Hailing the steps taken by Prison department brass for busting the network of the mafia and goons inside prisons, Singh said that jammers, CCTVs camera have been installed and listed gangsters had been shifted to other jails. The Prison Minister explained that due to budgetary crunch, they were finding it difficult to counter the use of technology by miscreants inside the prisons. He cited the example of introduction of rising technology in mobile network and said that it was difficult to introduce new jammers. “During its 19-month tenure, the BJP government has so far done a lot to improve the condition of state jails and provide healthy food to inmates by introducing modular kitchens,” he added. ADG, Prisons, Chandra Prakash stressed on the need to train Prison department officials. He welcomed jail officials from UP, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Delhi, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh to the three-day training programme.