Burail Jail convicts to have bank accounts

Amit Sharma

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Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 11

Convicts lodged at the Burail Jail will soon have their bank accounts. This will enable the jail authorities to directly transfer the wages of convicts in their bank accounts. At present, wages earned by inmates in the jail are paid to them through cheques.

OP Mishra, IG (Prisons), said they had tied up with a nationalised bank in which all convicts will have their bank accounts. “The wages earned by them will be directly transferred to their accounts,” the IG said.

Jail officials said the bank accounts would have the same address that would be mentioned in the documents possessed by the convicts like Aadhaar card, voter card, etc.

At present, jail staff maintains the records of wages earned by the convicts. The wages are paid to them through cheque when they want it or at the time they get released from the jail after completing their term.

“The incident of an inmate who stole a cheque from the jail office and had transferred money to his account prompted us to take the decision towards streamlining the process of paying the wages to the convicts,” the IG said.

In December last, the UT police had arrested a former Burail jail inmate for stealing blank cheques from the jail store room and getting Rs 26.97 lakh transferred to his account after getting released from the jail.

Amandeep Singh, alias Aman, a resident of Fatehgarh Sahib district, Punjab, allegedly transferred a sum of Rs 26.97 lakh from the account of the Deputy Superintendent (Jail) to his account. He had forged the Deputy Superintendent’s signature.

Since, the jail inmates get their wages through cheque, fraud did not immediately came to light.

The move will also enable the convict’s family to utilise the money at the time of need by withdrawing it through a debit card. “They can also give debit cards to their wife or other family member who can operate the card and withdraw the money,” an official said.

Sources said at present there are around 400 to 450 convicts lodged at the Burail Jail.

We have tied up with a nationalised bank in which all convicts will have their bank accounts. The wages earned by them will be directly transferred to their accounts. — OP Mishra, IG (Prisons)