PITB decides to start PMIS app at six jails

Previously, prison inmate data was recorded on registers and management and retrieval of these records was difficult

LAHORE: The Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) has decided to start the Prison Management Information System (PMIS) application at six different jails of Punjab in the first phase.

This was disclosed by a team of PITB while giving a demonstration and presentation to Punjab's Minister Prisons Zawar Hussain Waraich and IG Prisons Mirza Shahid Saleem Baig on Sunday.

According to the team, the decision was taken as per their 100- day plan after successful running of PMIS in its pilot phase at District Jail, Lahore.

The minister lauded the PITB efforts in digitalising the prisons department. He declared it an integral part of the Criminal Judicial System.

IG Prisons Mirza Shahid Saleem Baig said that there was a need for updating prison records to strengthen the criminal justice system. He said that PITB had developed PIMS for this purpose. Some salient features of PMIS included a comprehensive online database of more than 3,000 inmates by using an automated fingerprint identification system (AFIS), planning and execution of reformatory measures, regulation and management of day to day affairs related to courts, facilitation of the public through fast-track registration of interviews and instant redressal of public grievances, maintenance of a comprehensive database of prison staff, including their career profiles, salaries, bank accounts and HR related data, stock and inventory management, which includes management and automation of the grain godowns, medicine stores and other miscellaneous stores and automation of budgeting, procurement processes and financial transactions.

The team also shared that PMIS was integrated with the MIS of Home Department, Punjab Police, Lahore High Court, and Anti-Corruption. They said that it had ensured efficient control and management of jail affairs. It required lesser manpower and time. It also added instant and informed decision making and planning and had significantly facilitated visitors. Through the PIMS, information of 51,747 prisoners, 14,895 visitors and 136 patients hospitalized in the jail have been piled up in the pilot project.

Previously, prison inmate data was recorded on registers, said Baig, adding that management and retrieval of these records were quite difficult. The data included detailed information about the legal histories of inmates housed in various prisons. This included the date of their admission, their fingerprints, their court dates, jail transfer, medical histories, parole and crime details.