305 warders to be recruited directly for jails through Punjab Police Recruitment Board

Recruitment process to ensure adequate manpower in jails will be completed within four months

Chandigarh: The Punjab cabinet on Wednesday okayed the direct recruitment to fill 305 posts of warder through the Punjab Police Recruitment Board by taking these posts out of the purview of Subordinate Services Selection Board.

The high-powered committee constituted to probe the Nabha jailbreak of November 27, 2016, had also identified shortage of staff in the jail as a major cause of the incident. (HT file photo)

According to a spokesperson of the chief minister’s office, this decision would be instrumental in improving the prison management by providing adequate manpower in jails.

The entire process of recruitment would be completed within four months.

At present, Punjab’s jails have more than 24,000 convicts and undertrials. However, there is a shortage of requisite staff for supervising them. The paucity is being felt more acutely since the Nabha jailbreak of November 27, 2016, and needs to be beefed up to check recurrence of such incidents.

The high-powered committee constituted to probe the Nabha jailbreak had also identified shortage of staff in the jails as a major cause of the incident.

Meanwhile, the cabinet, chaired by chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh, also approved the annual administrative report of the home affairs and justice department for 2017.