CHANDIGARH: The Haryana Government has sought financial assistance to the tune of Rs 140 crore from the Government of India under the second phase of the prison modernisation plan.
 

Haryana Power Minister Randeep Singh Surjewala said on Friday that the amount was required to increase the capacity of some district jails as well as to build new jails in five other districts of the State to ease congestion in jails.

"We have already submitted a proposal to the Central Government for financial assistance," he added.
 
Surjewala was speaking at the All India Conference on Draft National Policy on Prisons Reforms and Correctional Administration organised by the Union Home Ministry at DRDO Auditorium at New Delhi. He claimed that the State had doubled the prison capacity in the last three years by constructing three modern jails at Karnal, Gurgaon and Narnaul.
 
"The State will have additional capacity for 4,000 inmates after completion of construction work on three other jails this year to remove congestion in the jails in Haryana," he added.
 
Although, the Central Government had provided Rs 102.76 crore to the State in the first phase of the Prison Modernisation Plan under the 75:25 scheme, the State Government invested more than Rs 162 crore in jail modernisation apart from investment in land.
 
Elaborating the plans of the State Government in this field, he disclosed that the Government was acquiring 40 acres of land for each district jail and 80 acres of land for every central jail besides, equipping each jail with separate blocks for women, juvenile offenders, under-trials and convicts.
 
"The State Government has formulated plans to have two large jails in each revenue division of NCR and one central jail in every other divisions of the State," he said.
 
Referring to the present barrack system where physically weak prisoners were being exploited and bullied by the rowdy elements, which has negated the efforts being made for correctional measures, Surjewala suggested that this system should be changed to room system where four to six prisoners of similar category, social and educational background could be housed together.