The North News
Chandigarh, June 20
In a first for the state, the Punjab government has approved the construction of a dedicated head office for its Jail Department—named ‘Jail Bhawan’—in SAS Nagar, as part of a wider effort to overhaul prison administration and infrastructure.
Jail Minister Laljit Singh Bhullar, who laid the foundation stone on Friday, described the project as a long-overdue institutional reform. “For the first time, Punjab’s Jail Department will have its own centralised headquarters. This will go a long way in streamlining operations, formulating policy, and adopting modern technology,” he said.
The ₹35 crore facility is expected to be completed by December 2026, ahead of its official deadline of April 2027. Once completed, the new building will eliminate the need for rented offices, saving the state an estimated ₹84 lakh annually.
The headquarters will be constructed over one acre of land, with a total built-up area of nearly 84,000 sq ft, and parking capacity for 115 vehicles. The structure will consist of a basement and five upper floors, and will include escalators, lifts, fire safety systems, a central air-conditioning unit, solar energy generation, and a local area network—features rarely associated with government administrative buildings.
“The new office reflects the Mann government’s broader commitment to modernising institutions,” Bhullar said, noting that 17,000 abandoned watercourses and 79 canals have already been restored across the state under ongoing infrastructure efforts.
Senior officials including Principal Secretary (Jails) Bhawna Garg, ADGP Arun Pal Singh, and Punjab Police Housing Corporation Chief Engineer Ranjodh Singh were present during the inauguration.
The building will also house water treatment facilities and aims to become a model of energy-efficient governance infrastructure. Officials say it will serve not just as an office space, but as a nerve centre for correctional reforms, improving data management, digital monitoring, and human resource coordination across Punjab’s prison network.
