As many as 132,787 prisoners undergone health screening from January to October under the Chief Minister’s Punjab Prisoners Health Programme, while more than 20,000 inmates were received basic education under the provincial government’s literacy initiative.
The progress was reviewed at a meeting of the Chief Minister’s Task Force on Prisons, chaired by Task Force Chairman Rana Manan Khan at the Punjab Home Department on Saturday. Punjab Home Secretary Dr Ahmad Javed Qazi also attended the meeting.
The meeting was informed that every prisoner underwent medical tests and a psychological assessment upon admission to jail under the health programme.
It was further informed that the Chief Minister’s Prisoners Literacy Programme was underway in jails across Punjab to provide basic education to illiterate inmates. Prisoners completing basic education were being granted a 30-day remission in their sentences.
The meeting was also briefed on the establishment of Chief Minister’s Prisoners Welfare Stores in all jails to facilitate inmates in purchasing essential items independently.
Progress on the construction of new women’s prisons in Lahore, Faisalabad and Rawalpindi was also reviewed.
On the occasion, Rana Manan Khan said efforts were underway to reform prisoners by providing them with a better environment and training facilities. He said citizens could book jail visits online from their homes through the meeting application, adding that more than 70,000 citizens had visited prisoners through the facility.
He said a modern system had been introduced to improve the quality and marketing of products manufactured in prison industries. Installation of modern cameras and other equipment in jails across Punjab under the Safe Jail Project would also be completed soon, he added.
Home Secretary Dr Ahmad Javed Qazi said the Prison Staff Training College in Sahiwal was a major asset of the Prisons Department.
Officers of Punjab Civil Defence and the Probation and Parole Service were also trained at the institution, he added. He said more than Rs1 billion had been saved under the energy efficiency project in jails. Merit remained the Punjab government’s top priority, and no compromise would be made on it, he added.
Special Secretary Home Zainab Khan, Inspector General of Prisons Mian Salik Jalal, Additional Secretary Prisons Roman Borana, DIG Prisons Shaukat Feroz, DIG Prisons Naveed Rauf, Chief Psychologist Prisons Sadia Zafar and other relevant officials attended the meeting.