CM orders steps to turn jails into ‘correction houses’

Warns of action if new jails not built early; wants prison staff’s salaries to be brought at par with those of police

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said the issue of overcrowding in all the 25 jails of the province could only be solved if the under-construction prisons are completed early, apart from making the Badin jail functional.

This he said while presiding over a meeting at the new Sindh Secretariat on Thursday on jail conditions in the province as well as on progress in completing anti-terrorism courts (ATCs). 

Shah said most of the prisons had been under construction for the last many years. “I want you to complete them on a top priority basis; otherwise I would take strict action against the concerned department officers,” he warned.

He also asked for the preparation of jail schemes for Mithi and Umerkot districts.

The chief minister said he was working “to turn jails into correction houses” and law teams and other departments concerned would have to work with him to achieve that objective.

In his briefing to the provincial chief executive, IG Prisons Nusrat Mangan said there were 25 jails in the province with a capacity of 12,245, but 20,308 prisoners had been crammed into them. 

Giving a breakdown of the inmates, he said that of the 20,308 prisoners, 15,061 were under trial, 3,766 convicted, 489 condemned and 429 detainees.

He said the number of female prisoners was 249, and of them 48 were convicted, three condemned and189 under trial.  He added that the number of juvenile prisoners was 283, and of them 15 were convicted and 268 under trial.

On this, the chief minister directed him to treat the prisoners humanely. “It is our responsibility to look after them properly and deal with them like human beings.”

Replying to a question, the prisons chief said that in 2015 some 17 prisoners were executed, and apart from them, there were 489 condemned prisoners in different jails of the province.

Replying to another query of the chief minister, Mangan said the ratio of the production of prisoners in court in the Karachi region was 69 percent, 98 percent in the Hyderabad region and 97 percent in the Sukkur region.

On this, the chief minister expressed his displeasure and directed the chief secretary to take the necessary measures to improve the ratio of prisoners appearing in court.

In the ATCs, the appearance ratio of prisoners in Karachi and Hyderabad regions was 100 percent, while it was 98.56 percent in the Sukkur region.

Shah asked the chief secretary about progress in establishing 20 new ATC s. The chief secretary said that six would be ready by November. On this, the chief minister told the chief secretary to direct the project director to hand over the courts by October 25. "We are committed under the apex committee decisions and I cannot allow more time for it,” he said.

Answering a question of the chief minister, Mangan said he had retaken nine acres from land grabbers in Hyderabad, five acres of District Malir Prsion and another six acres of Sukkur Prison.

The chief minister directed the chief secretary to prepare schemes for the construction of a prison in District West for which 200 acres had already been allotted. Similarly, 300 acres in Gaghar and 240 acres in Deh Thming of Malir had been allotted; therefore, schemes for the two new jails should be prepared, he said, adding that “this is the way” to reduce the overcrowding in jails.

Shah also directed the prisons chief to prepare a plan for shifting prisoners to the open jail in Badin. The Badin jail has over 2,000 acres of land. "I would suggest you to involve Tando Jam Agriculture University and teach new cropping methods, gardening and such other things to the prisoners to be shifted there.”      

The chief minister sought a proposal from the chief secretary for making the salaries of the prison department force at par with those of the Sindh police. He said a similar compensation policy would also be made for the prison force.

He urged the prisons chief to provide the facility of making phone calls as per the policy to the prisoners and engage them in other activities like sports, industrial works and education.

The meeting was also attended by Chief Secretary Siddique Memon, Additional Chief Secretary Mohammad Waseem, Home Secretary Riaz Soomro, Prosecutor General Shahadat Awan, Works Secretary Aijaz Memon.

 

Roads reopened

The chief minister also issued orders yesterday for reopening of all barricaded streets around the CM House, Karachi Club and a hotel in the vicinity.

One of the roads adjacent to the Karachi Club had been closed off due to the presence of the US consulate, which has been shifted to Mai Kolachi Road now, thus the reopening was ordered.