The Sindh government will soon form a “jails reform committee” to deal with overcrowding and other problems being faced by thousands of prisoners languishing in 22 prisons, Senior minister Pir Mazhar-ul-Haq told the Sindh Assembly on Monday.
Jails Minister Haji Muzaffar Ali Shujra said that one school will be set up in each prison to impart education to prisoners under the Annual Development Programme (ADP) for the next financial year. Sports Minister Dr Mohammed Ali Shah announced free treatment at his private clinic for prisoners suffering from hepatitis. The jails minister said that 770 prisoners were suffering from hepatitis and 22 prisoners from HIV/AIDS.
In reply to a supplementary question by Marvi Rashdi, the minister said that one female prisoner was diagnosed with HIV while 45 women were suffering from hepatitis B.
Dr Nasrullah, who was a member of a doctors’ team which tested prisoners for Hepatitis and HIV in Sukkur Jail-I and Sukkur Jail-II, said that 50 per cent of the prisoners did not cooperate for tests presumably because of some misconceptions. He said that hepatitis B was increasing among prisoners because they used the same razor for shaving. Dr Mohammed Ali Shah said that contaminated water was also increasingly causing hepatitis among prisoners.
The minister said that 1,200 prisoners in the Prison-I, Sukkur, were tested. He said that 166 prisoners out of a total of 252 in the Prison-II were diagnosed with hepatitis B. In reply to a question from Rashida Panhwar, the minister said that 38 prisoners were suffering from hepatitis B in Dadu jail.
He admitted that the treatment of prisoners had not been given proper attention by successive regimes. Rs120 was being provided to each prison for treatment each month, which was insufficient, he said, adding that the Sindh chief minister had promised to increase medical allowance for prisoners and he had already increased meal allowance from Rs35 to Rs50 per day recently.
Shujra said that he had requested the provincial government to bring salaries of jail staff in Sindh at par with their counterparts in Punjab. Responding to a question from Anwar Mahr, the minister said that there were eight prisons out of total 22 where no primary education was being provided to prisoners.
He said that the prisoners could get postgraduate education through computers. There are a total of 22 teachers in prisons and the minister said he had requested the government to hire more teachers to educate prisoners to make them productive citizens of society. The minister said that one prisoner was giving computer training to his peers at the Central Jail, Karachi.
Responding to question from Heer Soho, the minister said that prisoners who get education are granted remissions in imprisonment. Responding to a question from Shama Mithani, the prisons minister said that as the test of hepatitis was expensive, the Sindh government, under the chief minister’s initiative, was providing funds for it. He said so far, they had tested 10,000 prisoners for hepatitis.
Home Minister Dr Zulfiqar Ali Mirza, in reply to a question from Humera Alwani, said that no senior police officers were getting higher education in the country or abroad on government expenditure.
However, he said that some senior police officers such as Abdul Khalique Sheikh, Irfan Baloch, Javed Jiskani, Allauddin Abbasi and others had received higher education from abroad on scholarships and their performance was relatively better because of their educational background. Responding to questions from Bachal Shah and Bilqees, the home minister said that the Higher Education Commission was helping police officers to get higher education abroad because highly educated and knowledgeable officers will benefit the general public.
Jails Minister Haji Muzaffar Ali Shujra said that one school will be set up in each prison to impart education to prisoners under the Annual Development Programme (ADP) for the next financial year. Sports Minister Dr Mohammed Ali Shah announced free treatment at his private clinic for prisoners suffering from hepatitis. The jails minister said that 770 prisoners were suffering from hepatitis and 22 prisoners from HIV/AIDS.
In reply to a supplementary question by Marvi Rashdi, the minister said that one female prisoner was diagnosed with HIV while 45 women were suffering from hepatitis B.
Dr Nasrullah, who was a member of a doctors’ team which tested prisoners for Hepatitis and HIV in Sukkur Jail-I and Sukkur Jail-II, said that 50 per cent of the prisoners did not cooperate for tests presumably because of some misconceptions. He said that hepatitis B was increasing among prisoners because they used the same razor for shaving. Dr Mohammed Ali Shah said that contaminated water was also increasingly causing hepatitis among prisoners.
The minister said that 1,200 prisoners in the Prison-I, Sukkur, were tested. He said that 166 prisoners out of a total of 252 in the Prison-II were diagnosed with hepatitis B. In reply to a question from Rashida Panhwar, the minister said that 38 prisoners were suffering from hepatitis B in Dadu jail.
He admitted that the treatment of prisoners had not been given proper attention by successive regimes. Rs120 was being provided to each prison for treatment each month, which was insufficient, he said, adding that the Sindh chief minister had promised to increase medical allowance for prisoners and he had already increased meal allowance from Rs35 to Rs50 per day recently.
Shujra said that he had requested the provincial government to bring salaries of jail staff in Sindh at par with their counterparts in Punjab. Responding to a question from Anwar Mahr, the minister said that there were eight prisons out of total 22 where no primary education was being provided to prisoners.
He said that the prisoners could get postgraduate education through computers. There are a total of 22 teachers in prisons and the minister said he had requested the government to hire more teachers to educate prisoners to make them productive citizens of society. The minister said that one prisoner was giving computer training to his peers at the Central Jail, Karachi.
Responding to question from Heer Soho, the minister said that prisoners who get education are granted remissions in imprisonment. Responding to a question from Shama Mithani, the prisons minister said that as the test of hepatitis was expensive, the Sindh government, under the chief minister’s initiative, was providing funds for it. He said so far, they had tested 10,000 prisoners for hepatitis.
Home Minister Dr Zulfiqar Ali Mirza, in reply to a question from Humera Alwani, said that no senior police officers were getting higher education in the country or abroad on government expenditure.
However, he said that some senior police officers such as Abdul Khalique Sheikh, Irfan Baloch, Javed Jiskani, Allauddin Abbasi and others had received higher education from abroad on scholarships and their performance was relatively better because of their educational background. Responding to questions from Bachal Shah and Bilqees, the home minister said that the Higher Education Commission was helping police officers to get higher education abroad because highly educated and knowledgeable officers will benefit the general public.
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