PESHAWAR: The government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa installed a biometric identification system in 14 prisons in the province and signed an agreement with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) for the upgrade and extension of the information system on the management of prisoners in the province.
Informing federal mediator Syed Tahir Shahbaz of the current state of prisons in the province on Friday, Inspector General (Prisons) Khalid Abbas said prison overcrowding had been reduced to 37% due to modernization of various prisons. He said that during the current fiscal year, the prisons under construction in Swat and Hangu districts would ease the burden on prisoners.
The meeting reviewed the progress and status of implementation of the recommendations of the Prison Reform Committee as entrusted by the Supreme Court, according to an official statement.
Chief Secretary Dr Kazim Niaz, Chief of Police, IG (Prisons), Minister of Interior, Secretaries for Law, Industries, Social Welfare and Health, and Secretary of Wafaqi Mohtasib Shoaib Ahmad Siddiqui, Senior Advisor Ejaz A Qureshi and other stakeholders attended the meeting.
The mediator said that a biometric identification system should be installed in all KP prisons and integrated into all departments of the administrative criminal justice system.
Mr Abbas said that in the second phase, the central prisons of Peshawar and Dera Ismail Khan and the district prisons of Swabi and Swat would be ready, while the work on the district prisons of Tank, Shangla and Upper Dir was underway. Classes.
Participants discussed the progress of provincial and district watchdog committees and welfare committees in improving the lives of prisoners, especially children, women and the poor, with all stakeholders in the province.
The mediator was informed that during the current quarter of the year, 56 prison visits were carried out by DOCs and 15 by POCs, while five meetings were called by the POC on the matter.
The IG (prisons) said juvenile and female inmates had already been separated, while the inmate voluntary donation fund and free legal aid committee had been set up.
He said Rescue 1122 had started emergency treatment in five central prisons, while patients with viral diseases, namely hepatitis and HIV, had been screened and mini-labs had been set up. place in 12 prison hospitals.
Mr Abbas said the provincial government has already exempted all prisoners from examination or verification fees.
He said that formal education was provided to 2,598 prisoners and nazira, tarjuma and hifze Koran to 1,040 prisoners.
The IG (prisons) said that 7.053 million rupees had been paid over the past six months to pay diyat, arsh and daman for the release of indigent prisoners.
Posted in Dawn, le 16 October 2021