‘Mobile jammers a failed idea, Punjab jails need more than cosmetic changes’
CHANDIGARH : The Punjab government recently appointed former Telangana director general of police (prisons) and 1987batch retired IPS officer VK Singh as adviser to the state jails department. Singh, who remained DGP (prisons) for more than four years, was credited with carrying out a number of reforms which earned him a wide applause.
During his second visit to Punjab, HT talked to Singh about his new role and his plans to revamp the prisons in the state. Here are excerpts:
What are your observations about prison management in Punjab?
A: The prison department needs more than cosmetic changes. The state government is serious about improving the system and that’s why it roped me in. After I retired, I wrote letters to chief ministers and DGPs to change the prison system, but Punjab was the only one to respond. Teams from the state headed by the jails minister visited our Telangana prisons. The difference I see in Punjab is the high number of addicts here as compared to Telangana jails. If managing Sikh extremists and gangsters is a problem here, we also had issues managing the Maoists and Islamic radicals.
Many feel that gangsters consider Punjab jails save heaven and get behind the
A: Most of the jails in the country are plagued by this problem. In Telangana, we strengthened our own staff. Punjab recently took some corrective measures by handing over operations of special cells and main entrances to the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF). But it alone won’t work. We need to train our staff to a great extent. We need to train them how to deal with the psychology of a gangster as well as that of an ordinary prisoner. Therefore, I feel that posting non-prison police officers as jail superintendents is a bad idea.
We often see videos of jailed gangsters celebrating their birthdays and posting pictures on social media. How can this be stopped?
A: We need to put gangsters in special cells away from the ordinary prisoners. There should no compromise on this count. A strong commitment at the government level is required as such elements are politically influential also.
The state plans to install mobile jammers in jails. Do you think it’s a good idea?
A: It’s a failed idea. Jammers are of no use to stop use of mobiles by the prisoners. Gujarat did it but failed. Jammers leave many shadow zones where they don’t have any impact on mobile signal. Nearly 95% inmates are prisoners without proper criminal background. They use mobiles just to talk to their families. In Telangana, we had similar problem with Islamic fundamentalists and we kept on rotating them to other jails on a regular interval besides keeping them in special cells.
What would be your mantra for improvement of prisons department in Punjab?
A: Making jails self-sufficient should be our collective aim. In Telangana, we made such a system that we hardly required money from the state. I would like to see Punjab prisons more as correctional centres. We need to start lot of activities in jails. Telangana jails are doing a business of worth Rs 600 crore per annum. In Punjab it is just one to 1.5 crore a year. We rehabilitated many inmates after completion of their jail term. We also provided them jobs and business opportunities.