Overview
- Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha chaired a high-level prisons review on Thursday and directed surprise inspections, forensic analysis of seized devices, and regular intelligence sharing among police, prisons and the Intelligence Bureau.
- Senior officials including DGP Nalin Prabhat, DGP Prisons Deepak Kumar and the Additional Director of the IB attended the meeting that moved to operationalize tighter oversight rather than leave reforms advisory.
- Planned reforms discussed are at the planning stage and include setting up dedicated prison intelligence units, rolling out biometric systems across all 14 jails, expanding telemedicine for inmates, and strengthening human resources in the Prisons Department.
- Sinha reviewed progress on the Mahanpur high-security prison in Kathua district and ordered officials to expedite remaining work to help relieve chronic overcrowding, which currently houses more than 5,300 inmates against a 3,629 capacity.
- If implemented, the measures could cut routes for radicalisation inside custody and improve monitoring and rehabilitation, while putting immediate pressure on local administrations to deliver technical upgrades and new infrastructure quickly.