Kerala to form high-level panel to improve condition of prisons

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Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has directed the formation of a high-level committee to assess and address deficiencies in the state's prisons. The panel, comprising additional chief secretaries of the Home and Finance departments and the head of the prisons department, has been tasked with submitting its recommendations within three months.
The decision was announced during an online meeting convened in response to a Supreme Court directive to ease prison overcrowding, reported PTI. As part of immediate measures, inmates will be relocated from overcrowded facilities to those with lower occupancy.
Additionally, the state will identify a suitable location between Viyyur in Thrissur and Thiruvananthapuram for a new central prison. The committee will also propose solutions to mitigate overcrowding, including repairing existing cells and constructing new ones. The government aims to expedite the completion of new prison facilities in Pathanamthitta and Taliparamba, Kannur.
Chief Secretary Saradha Muraleedharan, Additional Chief Secretaries A Jayathilak and Bishwanath Sinha, State Police Chief Sheikh Darvesh Sahib, Jail DGP Balram Kumar Upadhyay, and other senior officials attended the meeting.