By IANS
Lucknow : Jails across Uttar Pradesh, so far headed by officials of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), will now be managed by Indian Police Service (IPS) officers, Chief Minister Mayawati announced Wednesday.
"The decision was taken in the larger interest of improving the administration of jails in the state," Mayawati told a press conference here.
The government has also decided to create two posts – to be held by IPS officers – to work alongside the existing inspector general of prisons, so far held by IAS officers, and deputy inspectors general (DIGs), who are drawn from the Provincial Jails Service.
The government's decision follows a violent jail mutiny in Sultanpur district jail Tuesday, in which a jail warden was killed and another person injured. Prisoners also beat up the new jail superintendent for carrying out a search that revealed use of mobile phones and other prohibited material in the prison cells.
"Under no circumstances will I allow the jails to be used as haven for criminals and crooks," Maywati said, expressing concern over the deterioration in the security of prisons.
"Jails are meant to house outlaws, who have to remain within specified limits," the chief minister said, adding, "wherever jail employees were found to be maintaining an underhand nexus with the inmates, they woo will have to face the music."
The measures come after Mayawati, who had sought a report on the functioning of jails in Uttar Pradesh, was told of "irregularities of various kinds."
–Indo-Asian News Service