Tihar Jail relocation plan mooted, Rs 10 crore allocated for survey
Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Tuesday announced a plan to relocate Tihar Jail to a new site, allocating Rs 10 crore for survey and consultation purposes regarding the proposed shift in Delhi Budget 2025.
The budget document mentioned that a panel would be set up under the aegis of Delhi Prisons which will work towards the reformation and rehabilitation of prisoners through holistic development and skills training programmes, while also improving functioning of various factories and manufacturing units in Delhi jails.
The government proposed Rs 10 crore for consultation and survey work for developing a new jail complex by shifting the existing Tihar complex to another location, in order to decongest the prison in view of prisoners’ welfare.
The Delhi prison system comprises three prison complexes, the one at Tihar being the largest in the city and among the largest prison complexes in the world, consisting of nine central prisons; a second at Rohini and another at Mandoli comprising six central jails, including one female prison, and having a total capacity of 3,776 inmates. Built on 68 acres at northeast Delhi’s Mandoli village, the prison was built at a cost of Rs 340 crore.
The total population in the sixteen prisons is around 19,000 inmates against a sanctioned capacity of 10,026. There has been a steady increase in inmate population over the years.
There is a proposal to build new jails at Narela and Baprola areas to decongest the existing prisons. The Prison department has already made requested DDA for allotment of 40 acres of land in Baprola for the proposed construction. A jail in Narela to house “high-risk” inmates has also been proposed.
