Pune: Yerawada Central Jail to Get Modern Waiting Rooms for Visitors

Yerawada, 12th April 2024: Yerawada Central Jail, which houses inmates from across the state, is a frequent destination for their visiting relatives. Although there is a designated waiting room for these visitors, its current condition is substandard. The room lacks basic amenities such as drinking water, breakfast facilities, and clean restrooms, causing distress for the relatives of the prisoners.

To improve the situation, two new, comfortable waiting rooms are now being constructed through a partnership between a private company and the Public Works Department (PWD). Groundbreaking has recently taken place, and these new waiting rooms are expected to be operational by the end of the year.

The new waiting room will cater to lawyers and relatives visiting the incarcerated individuals. Cybage Company is utilizing its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds to build a state-of-the-art waiting room of over 17,000 square feet for 1.5 crore rupees. The room will replace the British-era horse stable in front of the central jail, which was previously converted into housing for female prison staff.

In addition, the PWD will demolish the existing waiting room and replace it with a modern waiting hall at an estimated cost of 10 crore rupees. This new waiting room will also accommodate police officers (court party) responsible for transporting prisoners between the jail and the court.

Relatives visiting prisoners at Yerawada Central Jail often face challenges as they must wait along the road in front of the jail for their scheduled visits. This situation leads to large crowds of relatives gathering on Jail Road every morning and evening, causing traffic disruptions and resulting in minor accidents.

Yerawada Jail houses up to 7,000 inmates, and approximately 1,500 relatives and legal representatives visit the jail each day. With limited waiting space along the road, relatives are often left waiting outside the jail, exacerbating crowding and road congestion. The jail has a critical need for a new waiting room to accommodate these visitors.

The groundbreaking ceremony for the new waiting room took place in the presence of Cybage company officials from the IT sector and prison authorities. Cybage company has undertaken the construction of a new waiting room for the relatives and legal representatives of prisoners. Arun Nathani, CEO of Cybage company, and Ritu Nathani, Director, recently laid the foundation stone for the waiting room. The event was attended by Jail Superintendent Sunil Dhamal, Deputy Superintendent Bhaidas Dhole, Pallavi Kadam, Ananda Kadam, and other officials.