The state government has decided to deploy home guard jawans to ensure internal security of 55 prisons, including eight central and 31 divisional jails.

The home (jail) department issued an order on April 19, 2012, asking all the jail superintendents to appoint 961 home guard jawans as jail warders for a period of one year.

The jawans would be deployed with effect from March 31, 2012 to April 1, 2013.

They would be deployed till the recruitment process for jail warders is complete.

“The jail warders are accountable for maintaining security inside the prisons,” inspector-general (prisons) Anand Kishore said. The inspector-general (IG) added that the services of the home guard jawans had been requisitioned for a period of one year.

The order comes in the wake of frequent group clashes and attacks on prison department officials. At least 20 incidents of clashes have been reported since January this year.

On May 30 last year, Dr Budhdeo Singh, on duty at Thawe (Gopalganj) divisional jail, was lynched by a group of inmates. Dr Singh was the Gopalganj divisional jail doctor.

“The appointment of jail warders is underway. The department has decided to involve home guard jawans as jail warders so that the work (maintaining internal security) is not hampered. We hope to complete the recruitment process for jail warders by the end of the current fiscal,” Kishore added.

The IG (prisons) said if the appointment of jail warders is complete before March 31, 2013, then the department would issue a separate order, amending the deployment of home guard jawans. “The appointment of home guard personnel is being done against the sanctioned strength of the jail warders,” he said.

Across the 55 jails in the state, 961 posts of jail warders are vacant. According to the IG’s order, the jail superintendents have been directed to impart training to the selected jawans for maintaining law and order inside the jails. In no case would the jawans be deployed from respective police lines with their firearms at the jails. “If required, the jail administration will allot them licensed weapons,” stated the IG’s order.

The order also clarified that the selected jawans would not be transferred to other places, as their services has been sought for one year. Bhagalpur Central Jail, which has a vacancy of 43 posts, would have the highest deployment of home guard jawans.