Shimla, Solan, Kangra districts to have new jails

Acting upon the directions of the Supreme Court, the Department of Prisons has decided to construct three new jails in the state in Shimla, Solan and Kangra districts. For this, the department has initiated the process. At present land is being identified for the construction of the jails in the said districts.

The Supreme Court had asked the states as well as the union territories to file a detailed reply regarding the inhuman conditions of inmates in around 1,382 prisons. The court had also directed states and UTs to establish district-level committees to assess the conditions of prisons. The committees were tasked to assess the available infrastructure in jails in order to take a decision on the number of additional jails to be constructed in the districts. The committees were also directed to assess the current capacity of the existing jails. They were also told to assess the requirement of enhancing the capacity of existing jails as well as to construct more jails. The court had also directed all the state to file a status report regarding this matter.

The committees then recommend that new jails should be constructed in three districts of the state. In July, a meeting under the chairmanship of ACS (Homes) was held in the state during which the recommendations of the district-level committees was discussed. In the meeting, the suggestion for the construction of new jails in Shimla, Solan and Kangra districts was accepted.

Acting upon this decision, the Superintendent of Jails of three the districts were directed to identify suitable land for the construction of jails in Shimla, Solan and Kangra districts.

A spokesperson of the Department of Prisons said the process of identifying the land is going on. Any further process will only be initiated as soon as suitable land is found for the construction of the jails.

There are as many as 15 jails across the state having the capacity to accommodate around 2,400 inmates. However, there are more than 3,000 inmates that have been accommodated in these jails.