Mayawati inaugurates new jails from home

It had provided 81.068 hectares of land to Jail Department on Mohanlalganj-Gosainganj Road for the construction of new buildings of Lucknow District Jail,Model Jail and Nari Bandi Niketan. A sum of Rs 32 crore has been sanctioned for the purpose.

On Friday,the chief minister said the old and dilapidated jail buildings were not secure. The buildings of District Jail and Model Jail were constructed in 1861 and 1867. Plus,the courts,the Human Rights Commission and the Centre had advised the state government to ensure the human dignity of prisoners along with provision of basic facilities.

Negating the criticism that the jails are too distant,Mayawati said at the time of construction,the old buildings of Lucknow Jail were located far from the city. But over the years,with the expansion of the municipal limits,the area became thickly populated.

Also,the District Jail had a space problem. Against a capacity of 1,004 prisoners,it houses 2,680. The expansion of the building is not possible owning to space crunch.

The new Model Jail and Nari Bandi Niketan will have a capacity of 600 and 420 prisoners respectively.

The new District Jail will have a capacity to house 3,640 prisoners.

The new buildings will have modern security equipment and facilities for the prisoners’ welfare have been provided. They will have modern kitchens,80-bed hospitals,secure meeting zones,sewage treatment plant,multi-purpose hall,school buildings,canteen,visitors’ shade and bakery building.

Besides,X-ray scanning,CCTV,a court room,a video conferencing room,central watch towers,high mast light and police barracks have been provided as well.

The government has also created new 364 and 124 posts for new District Jail and Nari Bandi Niketan.