The Jail Reforms Committee, headed by ADGP (Law and Order) R. Hitendra, submitted its findings to Home Minister G. Parameshwar on Wednesday and warned that the central jail was on the verge of systemic failure.
The review was ordered after videos went viral showing inmates, including notorious criminals and terror suspects, allegedly receiving preferential treatment at the prison.
The panel also reviewed other central jails in the state – Mysuru, Shivamogga, Ballari and Kalaburagi – and benchmarked them against best practices at Tihar Jail in Delhi and Chanchalguda Jail in Telangana.
According to the report, Parappana Agrahara has 4,834 inmates but has only 571 staff, leaving 388 sanctioned posts vacant. This results in a prisoner-staff ratio of 1:9, which exceeds the 1:6 ratio prescribed in the Model Prison Manual. Converted to a shift, the ratio worsens to 1:27, with one officer overseeing nearly 30 inmates at a time.
Other central prisons also do not meet security standards. Mysuru jail has 774 inmates with 133 staff, while Ballari has 457 inmates and only 93 staff.
The committee recommended immediate filling of vacancies, mandatory rotation of staff every three years with a two-year cooling-off period, and annual modern training programs.
Mobile smuggling and failed jammers
The panel noted that mobile phone smuggling continues unabated at Parappana Agrahara, primarily because existing jammers cannot block 5G signals. This persists despite the Karnataka High Court’s 2021 directive ordering strict control over the use of mobile phones in prisons.
The commission recommended upgrading to 5G-compatible jammers, deploying low-intensity portable jammers at blind spots and placing all jammer controls strictly under the Chief Superintendent.
Between January 2021 and 15 November 2025, 154 FIRs related to illegal activities in central jails were registered in Bengaluru. All these cases remain under investigation at the police station level, the report said.
The committee highlighted serious infrastructural deficiencies at Parappana Agrahara, including the absence of a buffer zone, boundary walls measuring less than 20 feet in some sections, and guard towers too low for effective monitoring.
She recommended raising boundary walls to 30 feet, installing fine-mesh anti-throw nets, adding solar fencing and increasing the height of watchtowers.
Surveillance inside the prison was described as “critically weak”. Parappana Agrahara has only 332 CCTV cameras covering about 6.6% of the inmates, compared to more than 8,600 cameras in Tihar Jail. Most of the barracks are not monitored, while the toilets do not have CCTV camera coverage, except for limited voice recording devices.
The panel recommended round-the-clock monitoring, artificial intelligence cameras to detect prohibited activities, body-worn cameras for personnel and the establishment of a central command center.
Overcrowding and administrative failures
Delays in construction at prisons in Shivamogga, Vijayapura and other places have worsened overcrowding, forcing prisoners into already overcrowded barracks. The committee emphasized the need to expedite all ongoing prison infrastructure projects.
He also highlighted social and administrative deficiencies, including inadequate vocational training, poor segregation of first-time offenders and habitual criminals, suboptimal deployment of female staff, irregular meetings of prison visiting boards and unsolved FIRs.
Other concerns identified include the unauthorized delivery of food and parcels, poor internal reporting, unnecessary referrals from doctors and informal visits by lawyers without camera coverage.
“There is a lack of human resource management”
Sources in the ministry said that while the recommendations emphasize technological modernization and infrastructure development, they fall short in the area of human resource management – considered a critical factor in curbing irregularities and corruption in the prison department.
According to senior prison officials, the lack of transparency in staff transfers and the non-existence of the Council for the Establishment of the Prison significantly weakened internal discipline and accountability. Officials pointed out that a dedicated Jail Establishment Board on the lines of the Police Establishment Board has been proposed to ensure transparent transfers through guidance and systematic deployment of personnel.
“Posting the right person for the right post through a structured and transparent process would solve many problems faced by the prison department across the state,” said a senior prison department source.
Mr. Hitendra was not available for comment.
Published – 16 Jan 2026 21:44 IST
