Bhubaneswar: In view of low occupancy rate in jails of Odisha, the Prisons department has sought the permission of the state government to close 18 jails in the state.
Director General of Prisons department Santosh Upadhyay said there are many jails in the state which were made during the British rule in the state. Giving an example, he said that the jail at Pallahara has the capacity to house 58 inmates; however, even half of the capacity is not used.
There are many jails including Madanpur-Rampur in Kalahandi and in Sohela in Bargarh that face a similar condition.
“As video-conferencing facilities are available in nearby bigger jails, it would be easier to produce the inmates of the closed jails before the courts concerned,” Upadhyay added.
According to a source, there are a total of 17,563 undertrials and convicts lodged in these jails in Odisha against the capacity of 19,291 which translates to an occupancy rate of 91 per cent in the state. While a new jail has been constructed in Athgarh recently, another jail is under construction in Sundargarh district.
PNN