State to appoint 1,700 constables, 300 officers at jails

The state cabinet has approved the recruitment of 1,700 constables and 300 officers at jails in Maharashtra, where there has been no recruitment since 2006. The prison department currently has a shortage of 400 constables. The recruitment process is expected to take eight months, followed by a year of training. The department is also in talks with TCS for the recruitment of 215 technical personnel. There is also a proposal to get Indian Police Service officers to work as senior superintendents, but so far none have shown interest.

The state cabinet recently cleared a proposal to hire 1,700 constables and 300 officers, including technical staff, at the jails where there has been no recruitment since 2006.

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The file is now with the finance department and a government resolution will be issued soon, a senior official from the home department said.

None of the nine central prisons in the state have senior superintendents even though the model prison manual mandates that a senior superintendent head it. Similarly, there must be one constable for every six undertrials/convicts, but actually there is one constable for every 21 to 28 undertrials/convicts. One post of deputy inspector general is also vacant.

The posts of superintendents, senior superintendents and deputy IG will be filled by promotions while recruitment of jailors and deputy superintendents will be done by Maharashhtra Public Service Commission. There was also a proposal to get Indian Police Service officers to work as senior superintendent, but none of them showed any interest, officials said.

At present, the prison department has 5,100 employees and there is a shortage of 400 constables, a senior official said. “It will take us eight months to recruit new staff and almost a year to train them.’’

Amitabh Gupta, additional director general of police (prison), said, “The home department has got a sanction from the state cabinet, and we are awaiting a government resolution in this regard. We will also get 215 technical personnel and talks are on with TCS for the recruitment. We are also setting up four new jails at Palghar, Ahmednagar, Turbhe and Yerwada and there will be a requirement of at least 900 employees.”

Retired jail superintendent Vijay Bendre, who has studied the issue of shortage of manpower, said, “Each central jail has a capacity to hold 1,500 inmates, but there are 3,500 to 5,000 inmates there. Jails are correctional facilities, and hence, we need better amenities for inmates. We have around 39,000 inmates in all jails of Maharashtra against the sanctioned capacity of 24,722 inmates.”