Addition: ‘Five more district jails from July 1’

LAHORE:

Five new district jails will be made functional from July 1, Inspector General of Police (Prisons) Mian Farooq Nazeer told the APP on Sunday.

He said all logistical and security arrangements including appointment of superintendents, deputy superintendents and assistant superintendents had been completed for jails established at Pakpattan, Okara, Bhakkar, Layyah and Sahiwal districts.

He said prisoners from these districts currently confined at other jails in the province would soon be shifted to the newly established jails. He said each jail could accommodate 1,000 inmates.

The IGP said for the first time in the province’s history the quality of food served in the prisons would be the same for prisoners in all categories. Currently, he said food served to under-trial prisoners or convicts in category B and C was different from food served to category A prisoners. He said the menu would include chicken dishes for six days a week.

The new prisons would also feature sports and recreational facilities for the inmates like badminton courts and table tennis rooms.

With the establishment of five new prisons, the number of prisons in the province has increased to 37.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 22^nd, 2015.