Tamil Nadu orders closure of 14 sub-jails citing administrative efficiency

Chennai: The Tamil Nadu government has issued orders for the permanent closure of 14 sub-jails, reducing the total number of facilities across the state from 96 to 82. The move is aimed at redistributing personnel and resources to higher-demand prisons.

Among the jails slated for closure is the Cheyyar sub-jail in Tiruvannamalai, which has served as a special camp for Sri Lankan Tamil refugees since March 2014.

Five of the 14 jails had already ceased operations following temporary shutdowns between 2013 and 2020.

According to the Government Order (GO) signed by Additional Chief Secretary Dheeraj Kumar, the closures were approved following a recommendation by DGP (Prisons and Correctional Services) Maheshwar Dayal.

“It is purely for administrative reasons,” a senior prison official told media persons, adding that staff and supplies from lightly used jails can now reinforce overcrowded sub-jails, district jails, and central prisons.

Each sub-jail is sanctioned for 13 employees—including one assistant jailer, two chief head warders, two head warders, six grade II warders, a cook, and a scavenger. Those posts will be redirected to prisons facing staffing shortages once closures are implemented.

In addition to Cheyyar, jails identified for closure include Rasipuram and Paramathi Velur (Namakkal) and Manaparai and Musiri (Tiruchy) and Madurantakam (Chengalpattu), along with nine other facilities that had remained dormant for years.

The Home Department had also proposed the closure of four additional jails—Tiruvidaimaruthur (Thanjavur), Cuddalore, Tiruttani (Tiruvallur), and Polur (Tiruvannamalai)—but the proposal was not approved.

Inmates currently lodged in the affected sub-jails will be relocated to nearby operational prisons. Supplies, arms, and ammunition will also be transferred to the central prisons that oversee the closed facilities.

Land and buildings freed up by the closures are to be handed over to the Revenue Department for alternative use.

The Cheyyar camp, designated in 2014 for detaining Sri Lankan Tamils held under the Passport Act for overstaying and criminal activity, will also be returned to the Revenue Department. The facility had been under the jurisdiction of the Q Branch since its conversion more than a decade ago.

Officials say the restructuring initiative will address staffing shortages without increasing the department’s overall payroll. A timeline for relocating inmates and personnel is expected to be announced soon.

(inputs from IANS)