BANGALORE: Psychopath Jaishankar’s escape from Parappanna Agrahara jail has put the government on fast track on expansion of the central prison.
Following over crowding of the prison, home minister K J George on Thursday said the government has decided to expand the prison by acquiring 20 acres of land adjacent to the present prison. “A final notification has already been issued for acquiring land and the expansion work would begin soon,” he told reporters.
Admitting lapses in the prison security, George said that most of the electronic and security installations were done in 1996 and some of the CCTVs were dysfunctional. “There are no watch towers in the prison. We have asked additional chief secretary SR Patnaik to look into the issue and once he gives report, the government will take action against top officials and also plug loopholes,” he said.
On release of prisoners, George said the governor on several occasions had rejected release of prisoners, who had already completed 14 years in the jail, as there is no clear cut guidelines for such release. “The government is in the process of finalizing the guidelines, which would be ready before October 2,” he said.
Mega-city policing
In the wake of Union government extending mega-city policing for Bangalore city, the city is all set to upgrade the present set up to meet the future challenges. Mega-city policing would deal with both technological and non-technological up-gradation of police system.
The technological upgradation include use of technology in policing, better surveillance systems and a command centre, which would monitor city policing. Besides, the constable work would be upgraded by providing them multi-skill technology gadgets to tackle more than one situation at any point of time. The Bureau of Police Research and Development has come out with a module to increase soft skills among lower-level staff and increase their efficiency.
Besides, thrust would be given for community policing at station level, which would involve local community. “We have submitted an action plan to the home minister, for which he has given in-principle acceptance,” City police commissioner Raghavendra H Auradkar said after meeting George on mega-policing.
George said that the government had agreed for using home guards for supplementary beats, as city police were facing staff shortage. “The government has initiated process of recruiting over 8,000 lower-level staff,” he said.
