In a bid to construct the biggest jail in the state, the Punjab government has given green signal for building an ultra modern high security jail spread over 100 acres of land at Nabha. A decision to this effect was taken by the Punjab Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh Badal during a high level meeting of the Jails department here at his official residence this morning.
This ultra modern jail which would come up at the site of Nabha open jail would have the capacity to accommodate 3000 inmates. To ensure the supply of high quality bricks manufactured with latest brick techniques for the construction of this jail, Mr. Badal asked the Jails department to establish special Brick kiln at the site by allotting a portion of land to it.
Reviewing the progress and designs of other upcoming district jails at Bathinda, Amritsar and Muktsar, Mr. Badal directed the Jails department to adopt the process of consolidated tendering for all these four jails to ensure the participation of renowned quality construction companies adding that in order to ensure transparency in allocating the work a two-stage bidding process should be adopted.
With a view to make this upcoming new Nabha jail self sustainable, Mr. Badal suggested to develop Dairy Farming there which would cater the need of milk for this jail on the one hand and would prove to be an income generating source through selling remaining milk in the market on the other. He also approved the construction of district jails at Nawanshehar, Mohali, Pathankot, Batala, Fazilka and Tarn Taran. Finalizing the construction norms for the new jails, the Chief Minister approved that new district jails in the state would be constructed to accommodate 1000 prisoners and sub jails 500 prisoners. He further directed the concerned departments to finalize the site plans by the end of February so that tendering process could be completed by the end of March. Expressing dire need to train the inmates in certain trades, Mr. Badal asked the Jails department and industry department to tie up with the local industries for their training and utilizing their services for the industries like Bakery, Wood based material, Textiles and others.
Prominent amongst those who were present in the meeting included Chief Secretary Mr. Rakesh Singh, Principal Secretary Home Mr. DS Bains, Special Principal Secretaries to the Chief Minister Mr. KJS Cheema and Mr. Gurkirat Kirpal Singh, Secretary Jails Mrs. Raji P Srivastva, Secretary housing and urban development Mr. A. Venu Parsad DGP Jails Mr. RP Meena, and IG Jails Mr. Jagjit Singh.