Prison information management system will start working on Nov 2, meeting told

An information management system will formally start working on November 2 this year for better monitoring and administration of the jails in Sindh.

This was disclosed by Sindh Chief Secretary Syed Mumtaz Ali Shah on Monday as he jointly chaired a meeting with Federal Ombudsman Syed Tahir Shahbaz at the Sindh Secretariat to review the process of jail reforms in the province. The chief secretary informed the meeting that the process was under way to bring reforms in every prison of the province.

He said concerned members of the civil society were jointly working with the Sindh government’s education, health and social welfare departments to introduce reforms in the prisons of the province.

Shah explained that oversight committees had been constituted by involving businessmen, educationists, health experts, civil society activists and members of the judiciary to oversee the process of jail reforms.

He told the participants of the meeting that a coronavirus vaccination drive had been launched to protect the health of the jail inmates against the deadly infectious disease. He added that coronavirus tests were also being conducted for the new prisoners. The Sindh inspector general of prisons informed the meeting that new barracks were being constructed in the prisons of Thatta, Shaheed Benazirabad and Malir.

He added that new prisons would also be constructed in District West of Karachi with the capacity of 800 inmates, in Tharparkar with the capacity of 300 inmates, in Kamber-Shahdadkot with the capacity of 200 inmates, and in Kandhkot with the capacity of 300 inmates. The Mirpurkhas prison had been accorded the status of central jail, the meeting was told.

The federal ombudsman appreciated the efforts of the Sindh government to bring reforms in the jails. He said all the relevant oversight committees should visit the jails in the province and submit their monitoring reports. He added that he would also submit a report to the Supreme Court on the prison reforms in Sindh.