Age-old cooking facilities, leaky water taps in cramped washrooms, sandy pathways to do physical exercises, etc., would be soon replaced with modern facilities at the British era sub-jail in Tirupattur town, one of the oldest facility in northern Tamil Nadu.
Built with Indo-Saracenic architecture in 1852, featuring round columns and curved arches, the sub-jail covers 1.62 acres inside the sprawling government estate that also houses the district treasury, the Triplicane Urban Cooperative Society (TUCS) and the taluk office.
“Inmates with disabilities do not have separate washrooms for themselves. We have requested for at least 20-25 new washrooms as against the existing 16 washrooms, with at least five western styled ones. We have also sought for a modular kitchen,” P. Vetrivel, chief head warden, Tirupattur sub-jail, told The Hindu.
Accompanied by Albert John, Superintendent of Police (SP), Tirupattur, Collector K. Tharpagaraj inspected the place on Saturday to assess the existing facilities here, to upgrade them in the coming months. They checked the stored rations, kitchen, dormitories and water tanks.
The inspection was based on a joint consultative meeting led by P. Murugan, Principal District Judge (Vellore) at the combined court complex in Vellore on Friday where Collectors and SPs from Vellore, Ranipet and Tirupattur brainstormed about modernisation of the sub-jails in the region.
Located on the outskirts of the town, the Tirupattur sub-jail has nine dormitories, measuring around 250 sq. ft. each, that can accommodate 74 inmates. Currently, only 30-35 inmates are lodged due to the dilapidated condition of the heritage structure. Each dormitory has a few toilets, and ceiling fans. There are no lights or windows. As per norms, a sub-jail should be manned by at least 13 persons including a chief warden and a cook. Remand prisoners, mostly on petty offences like thefts, are lodged at the sub-jail.
At present, the facility does not have a playground. Instead, 32 large tamarind trees occupy the open space in the premises. Along with football and volleyball courts in the new playground, prison officials have also sought a modern gym, a library with at least five computers to conduct computer classes for inmates to enable them for self-employment.
Another feature that forms part of the modernisation plans was the setting up of a video conferencing facility in order to ensure safe trial of inmates for court proceedings. This would also help the police personnel to do other duties like bandobast without any delay of trials.
In the North Arcot region that comprises Vellore, Ranipet, Tirupattur and Tiruvannamalai districts, 12 sub-jails including Ambur, Vaniyambadi, Walajah, Arakkonam, Chengam, Gudiyatham, Vandavasi, Polur and Cheyyar are located. Of these, the Tirupattur Sub-Jail has the highest capacity of accommodation (74 inmates), followed by Tiruvannamalai (45 inmates). Except Cheyyar and Arani, rest of the sub-jails in the region are functioning.
