?Wafaqi Mohtasib Mr.Ejaz Ahmed Qureshi has urged upon all stake holders in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) to ensure improvement of living conditions of prisoners in jails especially children, women and destitute/ resource less prisoners. He was presiding over a meeting of the Prison Reforms to review and follow up the implementation of recommendations in the Report on Prisons. This was desired by the apex court of Pakistan, during hearing of the case on miserable conditions of prisoners in jails in September, 2018.
?The meeting was attended by the Chief Secretary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Mr. Nadeem Aslam Ch, Secretary Home, Mr. Muhammad Abid Majeed, Inspector General Prisons, Muhammad Usman Masood, Provincial Mohtasib KP, Syed Jamal-ud-Din Shah, Advocate General KP, Mr.Amir Javed, DG (Prosecution) Mian Muhammad and Regional Head Peshawar Wafaqi Mohtasib, Mr.Badsha Gul Wazir.
?Wafaqi Mohtasib commended the KP Prison Department for launching of ‘on-line meeting through zoom facility” for the prisoners with their relatives which has been appreciated by the general public .He further asked that to support the local industry of handmade cloth (Charsada Khaddar) and other similar industries, the prisoners will be provided training and encouraged for their production and portion of the earning of the products made by the prisoners will be spent on the their welfare. He urged upon the Provincial Government of KP to build additional accommodation where there is overcrowding in district jails, which should have separate and independent portion
for women and juvenile prisoners with sleeping space for every prisoner and adequate toilet and hygiene facilities.
?He stressed the need to link biometric system in Jails with courts to maintain record of prisoners and ensure development of an interface between jails, courts and NADRA for monitoring and verification of Prisoner’s record. He added that drug users and mentally challenged prisoners are to be kept outside of jail premises, in drug clinics (rehabilitation centers) with provisions for medical treatment. Prisoners with ailments of HIV Hepatitis, TB and those who are drug addicts should be segregated and kept apart from other prisoners and strict surveillance should be implemented in jails for protecting prisoners from physical and sexual assaults.
?The Home Secretary, Mr.Abid Majeed informed the members of the meeting that 39 prisons with authorized capacity of 13375 have so far been made operational in KP with health and hygiene facilities, separate and independent detention facilities for women, juvenile inmates, where education/ skill training facilities to the prisoner have been ensured. He further updated that efforts are in hand to allot dedicated rooms for installation of Prisons Management Information System (PMIS) Main Server and for the conduct of examinations for Prisoners by the HEC and other relevant institutions. He mentioned that PMIS has also been installed in 14 Jails and networking has been completed in 38 Jails.
?The Honorable Wafaqi Mohtasib appreciated the steps taken by KP Government toward implementation of the recommendation on prison reforms and added that significant improvement was visible in the condition of prisons and life of the jail inmate. He also directed the provincial authorities to pursue the construction of jails in new Districts of Upper Chitral, Kolai-Palas, Upper South Waziristan, Lower Kohistan and Torgher.
