Warangal jail has 56 staff for 19 inmates
WARANGAL: A peculiar staffing situation has surfaced at the Warangal prisoners’ agricultural farm, where just 19 inmates are being guarded by 56 prison personnel. The arrangement has drawn attention to uneven staff deployment in the Telangana prisons department.
Typically, prisons house more inmates than staff. However, at the Warangal facility, personnel outnumber prisoners by nearly three to one. Officials say the imbalance reflects systemic issues in staff allocation across the department.
Earlier, Warangal had a central prison. The previous government decided to allot the land for a government hospital, following which inmates were shifted to prisons in Hyderabad, Karimnagar, Khammam and other locations. At present, only the prisoners’ agricultural farm remains operational in Warangal.
Of the 56 staff posted there, some are deployed to manage four petrol bunks functioning under the Warangal prison’s supervision. Despite this, a significant number of personnel remain at the facility, even as they are not being transferred to other prisons facing shortages.
Staff shortage in central prisons
Sources said the Telangana prisons department has 437 vacancies against its sanctioned strength. As per the National Crime Records Bureau report, by the end of 2023, only 1,536 personnel were in place against 1,973 sanctioned posts.
Across Telangana, the total inmate population stands at 7,494. Nearly 35% of them — about 2,028 prisoners — are lodged at the Cherlapally Central Prison alone. This translates to one staff member overseeing 12 inmates.
At Chanchalguda Central Prison, each staff member is responsible for supervising nine inmates. Officials said escorting prisoners to courts and facilitating court appearances through video conferencing have added to the workload.
Sangareddy prison, though upgraded to a central prison, does not have staff even at district jail levels. With 618 inmates and just 49 personnel, each staff member there oversees around 13 prisoners.
In contrast, Karimnagar district jail has 376 inmates but as many as 74 staff members, resulting in an average of five inmates per staff member.
