Basharat unhappy with pace of reforms in jails

LAHORE:Punjab Law and Cooperatives Minister Raja Basharat has said that the pace of reforms in Punjab jails is disappointing and the authorities concerned must accelerate the efforts to improve prisons and prisoners’ life by implementing the instructions of Chief Minister Punjab in this regard. He was addressing a performance review meeting of the Departments of Prisons and Prosecution on Tuesday. The meeting reviewed the progress on departmental reforms and development projects. Raja Basharat said that the Prosecution Department should take effective measures for early conviction of perpetrators of violence against women.

He directed the Prosecution Department to activate the case management system without further delay and said that strong prosecution should be carried out to increase the conviction rate of culprits involved in heinous crimes. He further said that a comprehensive strategy should be formulated to compensate the working prisoners for their work in jails.

Earlier in the briefing, the provincial minister was informed that Prisons Management Information System would be activated in all the jails of the province in the current financial year. In view of the growing number of inmates, 45 per cent construction of 9 multi-storey barracks has been completed while inmates are being trained in furniture making, carpet weaving and textile making with the help of Tevta.

Provincial Minister for Prosecution Ch Zaheer, Secretary Prosecution, Prosecutor General Punjab, Inspector General Jails and other officers of both the departments also attended the meeting.