State prisons must become correction centres: R R Patil

Patil was speaking at the passing-out parade for 120 jail warders at the Yerawada Central prison ground where he was the chief guest. "There is a need to improve the condition of the central prisons in the state, and they should be turned into correction homes for inmates. When they leave the prison after completing their term they should become responsible and law-abiding citizens," said Patil.

Respect: Home Minister R R Patil was given a guard of honour at the passing out parade of 120 new jail warders at the Yerawada Central prison ground yesterday

He said the state government has initiated many initiatives to improve the condition of the state prisons. "In order to reduce the manual work of escorting inmates to courts for hearing, we have started installing video conferencing facilities at central prisons and so far 26 jails have been equipped with the facility. The work of installing CCTV cameras on the premises of jails is ongoing and at various places it has been completed," he said.

Qasab's hanging
Speaking about Operation X wherein lone Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Qasab was executed inside the Yerawada jail on November 21, Patil said that while executing the entire operation with great secrecy and confidentiality, prison officials, under the leadership of ADG (prison) Meeran Borwankar, showed utmost responsibility and patriotism. He said the entire country and the international community had congratulated the state for its good work.

Police letdown
When the home minister was asked about the failure of the police in the Nayana Pujari rape and murder case, wherein Yogesh Raut the prime accused escaped from the clutches of police, and has not been traced for over a year, Patil said, "I am very disappointed with the police over the investigation status, and I have instructed all police officials to trace and nab Raut as soon as possible."u00a0