Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath has said the Uttar Pradesh government will set up “open and high security prisons” in the state under the prison reforms. The fire department will be set up as a disaster management and emergency service. The units of civil defence will be established in all 750 urban local bodies, he said.
Yogi made the announcement while taking stock of the working of the fire, civil defence and prison departments in a meeting with officers. He gave necessary instructions for better functioning of the departments.
“The state cabinet has recently approved the new prison manual. It will be a significant effort towards prison reforms. We have to make concerted efforts to establish prisons as better centres of reform. The open prisons and high security prisons can be useful in the implementation of the prison reforms. The officers should select the spots and prepare a proposal.”
The list of prisoners lodged in jails for more than 14 years should be prepared and submitted to the state government, the CM said. There should be a separate list containing details of sick, minor, female and handicapped prisoners, he added.
“We have all experienced the utility of the fire department in case of fire. The service spirit of the fire department personnel is inspiring. Keeping in view the need of the future, there is a need to establish the fire department as a disaster management and emergency service. The State Model Fire and Emergency Bill should be prepared on the lines of the Centre’s Model Bill on Maintenance of Fire and Emergency Service, 2019,” he said.
There should be adequate fire safety arrangements in the multi-storied buildings. As per the policy of ease of doing business, there should be a provision for self-certification of the building fire safety by the owner of the building every six months. The provision for checking by the fire safety officer and annual third-party audit should be implemented, he said.
A special fund for the safety of firefighters and availability of high-quality firefighting equipment should be set up, Yogi said. “The civil defence department has played an important role in maintaining peace, harmony and security in the society. At present, civil defence units are working in 27 districts, keeping in view the importance and utility of civil defence. It is necessary to extend it to all 75 districts,” he said.
The civil defence units should be reconstituted on the basis of all urban local bodies of the state. More than 750 civil defence units will be functional in the state. Necessary action in this regard should be completed as soon as possible in coordination with the home department. The state government will provide financial incentives for the establishment of the new units, he said.
“Under the Smart City project, the security system of cities has become smart with the implementation of the integrated traffic management system. Efforts should be made to make the cities safe with inter-departmental coordination and financial management,” he said.
