Rupnagar, 2 September:
It is a historic day in transformation of Jails in Punjab and several steps have been taken on the way of making the jails actually reform houses.
These views were expressed by the Jails Minister, Punjab, Mr. Harjot Singh Bains today while inaugurating the petrol pump, Ujala Fuels, installed by Punjab Prisons Development Board and Indian Oil Corporation at District Jail Rupnagar.
Mr. Bains said that the well-behaved inmates of the jail will fill fuel in the vehicles at this pump and security forces will be present along with the inmates. Special training has been given to the prisoners in this regard. In the presence of prisons officials, the cabinet Minister poured oil into the vehicles.
Mr. Bains said that as much as policing is necessary, Jail arrangements are equally important. Prisons had been in a very bad conditions during the previous governments. But the present government is making great efforts to improve the management system of jails and so far, more than 3900 mobile phones have been seized from prisons. All this is happening due to the hard work of the officers and employees of the prisons department.
Pointing out the steps taken for transformation in jails, he said that daily inmates are doing P.T. and yoga in morning for 45 minutes for physical fitness and remove negativity. There are about 30,000 prisoners in the jails of the state, all of them were drug tested and 14,000 were found positive. They are now being counseled and every possible effort is being made to get them out of this quagmire.
A lot of attention is being given to the education of the prisoners in the jails so that after their release they become good citizens and lead a good life he said adding that he is tirelessly woking with a mission and soon the day will come when the jails of the state will become the best jails in the country.
On this occasion, while addressing the media, Mr. Harjot Singh Bains said that there will be no shortage of sand and gravel in the state from October 1 and people will get sand at the rate of Rs.09 and gravel at the rate of Rs.20.
Responding to the question regarding sand and gravel coming from other states, the Cabinet Minister said that entry tax has been levied on vehicles bringing sand from other states and it can be refunded.
Reacting on the question of Gangnster Ansari who was kept in jail in Punjab, he said that the investigation about the gangster Ansari is going on and very soon big revelations will be made about this matter.
Notably, 11 such pumps will be installed in the jails of Punjab and this is the first such pump installed at District Jail Rupnagar. It is expected to sell about 01 lakh liters of oil per month from this pump and this income will be spent for the welfare of the prisoners and their rehabilitation after the completion of their sentence so that they can lead a good life as good citizens.
On this occasion, Special DGP (Jails) Mr. Harpreet Singh Sidhu, DIG Prisons, Mr. Surinder Singh, I.G. (Prisons) Mr. Roop Kumar Arora, SSP Rupnagar Dr. Sandeep Garg, Superintendent Ropar Jail Mr. Kulwant Singh Sidhu, Additional Deputy Commissioner Harjot Kaur, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. State Head/ED Mr. Jatinder Kumar, Piyush Mittal Retail Sales Head, District Secretary AAP Mr. Ram Kumar Mukari along with officials of various departments and dignitaries were also present.
