Punjab starts digital monitoring of prisons.

LAHORE -- Punjab government has started implementing a project aiming at digital monitoring of its prisons, initially in seven different jails of the province.

Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar inaugurated the Prison Management Information System (PMIS) at a ceremony held at the Civil Secretariat here on Tuesday.

The Chief Minister was told that digital monitoring of prisoners, staff and other affairs will be possible through this modern system which has been launched in seven different jails of the province. The scope of PMIS will be gradually enhanced to all the jails to maintain a digital record and monitoring of prisoners' movement and other activities during their confinement. Similarly, visitors' record will also be maintained.

The CM directed to complete necessary action for amendments in jail manual and Prisons Act and also approved setting up of PCOs in all the prisons. The meeting decided to take steps for increasing the capacity of Punjab jails to accommodate ten thousand more prisoners.

The CM gave in-principle approval to post up-gradation of jail staff, laundry system besides establishing new washrooms in jails. It was also decided to increase the strength of doctors and paramedics according to the need besides establishing a development directorate for the prisons department.

Talking on this occasion, the CM said that organized jail reforms had been started after a period of 100 years adding that he was also visiting jails during field visits to check their conditions. Prisoners will be provided with all facilities according to the jail manual, he assured and directed to provide air-coolers and water-coolers in all the jails.

ACS (Home) Momin Ali Agha briefed about the steps taken to protect the prisoners from coronavirus. He told the meeting that as many as 1,584 prisoners had been relocated from congested Lahore jails to other places and a 100-bed hospital was fully functional in Camp Jail.

He further informed that 84 detainees out of 1,680 prisoners had been tested for coronavirus while only seven positive coronavirus patients were under treatment.

He said high-security prison will be made functional in Mianwali very soon. Similarly, professional training of jail staff has been arranged at Punjab Prison Staff College Sahiwal, he added. Provincial ministers Raja Basharat, Zawar Hussain Warraich, Chief Secretary, Secretary Information and others also attended the meeting.

Buzdar presided over a meeting at the Civil...